


Wolverine and his moon

by Maethoriel_Artemis



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Wolverine (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Mates, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28465638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maethoriel_Artemis/pseuds/Maethoriel_Artemis
Summary: Most people find the one for them only once in their lives but for Logan, he got to find her twice. Problem is, on the second time, she has no idea who he is.
Relationships: Logan Kaitlyn, Logan/Diana
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Happy New year everyone! Have fun and stay safe!**

~1978~

Diana twirled her pencil in her fingers as she read over the homework from her students. Suddenly she felt something hit the side of her head. The ginger looked down to see her wolf plushie on the floor next to her chair. The young woman picked it up, shooting the thrower an unimpressed look. “Real funny”, Diana said somewhat sarcastically, setting the toy down “I have work to do Michael”.

“You can do that in the morning”, Michael said, strolling over to her desk and plucking the pencil out of her hand “come out and have a drink with me”.

“On a Tuesday are you nuts?” Diana asked, taking the pencil back “I have work tomorrow and so do you. Not sure your boss would appreciate you going into work drunk…again”. The young woman turned back to the school work.

“Suit yourself”, Michael muttered and left the room. As soon as he was gone, Diana sat back and sighed, worriedly. She loved him, she really did but she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Here she was, working as hard as she could as a teacher and occasionally picking up an extra side job just to pull in enough money to pay the bills. Meanwhile, Michael can barely keep a job to save his own life and the drinking was a big reason why.

She picked up her wolf, hugging it to her chest “One of these days, I swear I’m going lose it with him”, she grumbled.

\------------

Sure enough several hours later, Diana woke with a start when she heard Michael crashing around downstairs. The 22 year old knew that she shouldn’t go down to check on him and yet…that’s exactly what she was doing. “Hey! Hey!” Michael cheered “there’s my woman!” he hugged her tightly, touching her in a wildly inappropriate way. Diana wiggled out of his grasp.

“You’re super drunk”, she stated.

“Yes I am. Drunk on yooouu!” Michael slurred. He tried to kiss her but Diana moved back, away from him.

“You need to go to bed”, she said firmly.

“I don’t want to, I’m not done drinking”, Michael told her. The woman watched him stumble toward the kitchen.

“Michael, I don’t think that’s a good idea”, Diana said, going after him. She placed a hand on his arm which was a big mistake as he backhanded her across the face causing her to fall to the floor.

“Oh, babe. I’m so sorry”, Michael said, helping her to her feet, suddenly sobering up “let’s go to bed, ok?” he suggested.

“Yeah, ok”, Diana mumbled, rather shaken up by what he’d done. Despite his drunken escapades, he had never laid a hand on her before. Never.

Within 10 minutes, Michael was fast asleep, his arm wrapped around her. Diana just lay there, gingerly touching her cheek. She really hoped that this was just a once off. Otherwise, she might be in some serious trouble. Diana closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

\------------

Over the next few days, Michael’s attitude improved. He didn’t go out and get drunk and he didn’t lay a hand on Diana. Instead he was much more attentive toward her. In fact, when Friday rolled around, he came to the school at lunch time with a bunch of flowers. “Oh, Michael”, Diana breathed when she saw them “they’re lovely. Thank you”.

“You’re welcome”, Michael said “Now!” he clapped his hands, rubbing them together “Tonight I’m gonna take you out”.

“Where?” Diana asked.

“It’s a surprise”, Michael said, giving her a kiss “now I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Ok”, Diana said. She watched him go before glancing down at the flowers in her arms and smiled. It seemed like things really were getting better between herself and Michael.

Later…

The ginger haired woman laughed as she and Michael danced with some of the other pub goers. “You really are bad at dancing!”

An offended expression crossed her boyfriend’s face “I am not! I’m an awesome dancer!” he proclaimed, waving his arms about. That only served to make Diana laugh even more.

“You’re so silly, Michael”, she giggled and kissed him “I love you”.

“I love you too”, the man said, pulling her in for another longer, deeper kiss.

Over at the bar, Logan was eyeing the couple or more specifically the ginger haired woman. He didn’t know why but he felt drawn to her. He barely suppressed a growl, his hand tightening around his beer glass when the male kissed the woman. _Why am I feeling this way_ he thought, completely confused. He had seen his fair share of couples kissing over the years that he’d been alive and none of them had elicited this reaction from him before. He watched the pair dance, his anger spiking when the brown haired man did something highly inappropriate. Before he knew it, he was off his stool and walking over to them.

Diana and Michael moved off of the dance floor, just missing Logan. They walked to the door where a couple of Michael’s friends came in. “Hey, Mike!” Jared greeted “leaving so soon?”

“Well, I….” the brunette started.

“Oh, come on. Why do you and Diana stay and have a couple of drinks with us?” Liam suggested.

“Thanks for the offer but I’m getting a little tired”, Diana admitted. She was surprised when he boyfriend gave her the keys to the car. “Michael?” she questioned.

“I’m gonna have a couple of drinks with the boys”, the man replied “I’ll see you at home, ok?” he kissed her cheek “I won’t get really drunk, I promise”.

“Ok”, Diana said. If it had been a few days earlier, she would’ve insisted that he come home with her but since he was doing a lot better, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. She pocketed the keys and left the pub alone.

The young woman walked along the road to where the car was parked. She paused when she sensed something behind her. Diana glanced back but didn’t see anything besides people coming out of pubs and clubs. She shook her head and kept walking. The ginger ignored the wolf whistles aimed in her direction from across the road as she passed. “Hey baby why don’t you come party with us?” one of them called.

“Just keep moving Reyes”, Diana muttered to herself “don’t look around”. She sped up when she heard them walk towards her. “Why didn’t Michael park somewhere close by?” she griped.

“Hey! Wait up!” the same male called. Diana yelped when he grabbed her by the arm and pushed her against the nearest building.

“Let me go!” the ginger exclaimed, struggling in his grasp.

“Don’t be like that baby, we just wanna have a little fun, right boys?”

The man’s mates drunkenly laughed in agreement. “Well, I don’t!” Diana cried ramming her knee hard into his groin. The drunk stumbled back, clutching the injured area.

“You bitch!” one of his friends snapped before he slapped her. Diana fell to the ground, hand on her stinging cheek. She flinched when he brought out a switch blade, flicking it open.

“Ooh, James going to give it to ya now”, one of the other drunks jeered. The young woman eyed the blade, trembling as Jared brought it closer to her. Diana closed her eyes and let out a whimper as the blade touches her skin.

“Get away from her!” another male voice shouted, this time from behind the group of four drunks. They glanced back to see a tall muscular man standing there. James and his buddies stiffened when three bone claws slowly extended from his knuckles.

“Shit man, he’s a freak!” one of them exclaimed and three of them scarpered, leaving James behind. The man glanced at Diana, who was now staring up at him and then down to the blade in his hand. The ginger screamed when he stabbed her in the stomach before taking off.

Logan hurried over to the young woman, quickly retracting his claws as he did so. “You’re going to be ok. Just hold on”, he said, carefully extracting the blade.

“I don’t wanna die”, Diana whimpered as he pressed his hands over her wound.

“You won’t”, Logan assured her “I’m gonna make sure of it”. He picked her up and ran. Diana tried to stay awake as best as she could but unfortunately she succumbed to the pain and blacked out.

\---------------

When Diana next woke, she found herself in a hospital room, a nurse cheeking her vitals on the machine she was hooked up to. “Its ok, you’re safe”, the brunette assured her, when the monitor started beeping louder, indicating that her heart rate was going up “you know you’re very lucky to have someone looking out for you Miss Reyes”, she remarked “he’s been here all day”.

“Michael?” Diana asked, brightly.

The woman shook her head “No, someone named Logan”, she replied.

“Oh”, Diana said, disappointed her boyfriend wasn’t there. She’d hoped that someone would’ve gotten hold of him since he was her emergency contact.

"The doctor did get in touch with your emergency contact but had to leave a message", the nurse informed "I'm sure Michael will be here as soon as he gets it", she added, seeing how disappointed and upset Diana was.

The ginger cracked a small smile at her "yeah I'm sure he will", she agreed "so...um...who's this Logan person?"

"He's the one who saved you!" the nurse informed her "ran all the way here apparently" the woman leant in closer "he was really protective of you. Wouldn't let you go to start with".

Diana looked at her surprised "seriously Nurse White?" she questioned, reading her name tag. Who was this Logan person and why did he react that way?

Nurse White nodded "yeah. I thought we would have to call security at one point", she admitted "and between you and me, I think you're rather lucky. He's a bit of a looker".

"I have a boyfriend", Diana told her.

“Doesn't stop you from looking", Nurse White with a smile making the ginger laugh, though she regretted it. The nurse used the controls on the side of the bed to raise it up a little so she was in a sitting postion. She then went to the door and opened it, calling to Logan who was sitting in the chair opposite “She’s awake”, the woman glanced at Diana “I’ll leave you to it. But if you need anything, just call”.

“I will”, the young woman promised. Nurse White nodded and took her leave. Diana watched Logan walk into the hospital room and close the door. _The nurse was right about him being a looker_ she thought checking him out. He was way more muscular than Michael. She gave herself a mental slap for thinking that. She had a boyfriend for crying out loud! She was happy in her relationship, she shouldn’t be thinking like that about any other guy. And yet…there was something about him…she didn’t know what but it made her feel almost drawn to him. “Thank you Logan, for saving my life. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…” she trailed off, not wanting to think about what would’ve happened if Logan hadn’t been there.

“You’re welcome, Miss Reyes”, the mutant said.

“Diana, please. Miss Reyes is too formal, especially since you did…you know save me”, Diana stated with a smile.

“Ok. Diana”, Logan agreed. He didn’t understand why he felt so drawn to her or why he had been so protective over her when he brought her into the hospital. He had almost attacked the doctors for heaven’s sake when they tried to take her away from him! It didn’t make any sense for him to have formed such an attachment to someone he barely knew. ”Diana I…”

“Di!” Michael exclaimed, pushing past the mutant “oh thank god!” Diana winced when he hugged her, a little too tightly “Sorry”, he said, quickly letting her go “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine”, the young woman assured him “Logan saved me”.

Michael glanced at the other man “Thank you for saving her”, he said.

“You’re welcome”, Logan said.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like some privacy with my girlfriend”, Michael said, looking at him pointedly.

“Sure”, Logan said, agreeing even though a part of him didn’t want to leave. However, that’s exactly what he did. Michael turned back to Diana as soon as he was gone.

“Oh, Di”, he breathed, touching her face “when I got the message from the hospital…I was so scared. I don’t ever want to lose you” he kissed her softly “I love you, so much”.

“I love you too”, Diana murmured, though deep down she was still pretty confused as to why she felt so drawn to Logan.


	2. Broken heart

Diana’s face lit up when her students piled into her hospital room. It had been a couple of days since she’d woken up and aside from Logan who had stopped by the day before, she didn’t have any other visitors. Not even Michael.

“Hey guys”, she greeted.

“How are you Miss Reyes?” Charlie asked, going over to the bed and giving her a large handmade card.

“I’m fine thanks Charlie”, Diana replied and opened up the card. She smiled when she read all the nice messages inside. “Thank you guys”, she said, touched by the kindness of the kids she taught “I really appreciate it”.

Kristy then stepped up with a small present and handed it over. Diana laughed, delighted when she unwrapped it to reveal a small white and grey wolf toy inside. “I love it”, she said, setting the toy down. The 22 year old held out her arms and the girl flung her own arms around her “thank you, all of you”, she said.

“When will you be back at school?” the blonde in her arms asked.

“It won’t be for a while, sweetie”, Diana answered “I’ve still got some healing to do. So I want you all to do me a favour and behave yourself for Miss Price, alright?” she requested, nodding to the woman in her early 30’s who was standing in the doorway.

“We will!” the children chorused.

“Alright kids, I think we should leave Miss Reyes to rest now”, Catherine Price spoke up. They all left the hospital room, the woman closing the door behind them. Diana picked up the wolf toy, running her fingers over its soft fur.

“I think I’ll call you Logan”, she stated.

A few hours later, the mutant in the question was making his way to her room. Though he questioned to himself why he was visiting her, again. He was questioning a lot of things lately, namely why he was feeling the way he was toward Diana. "Nice toy", he remarked as he stepped into the room, seeing her fiddle with a wolf toy.

"Thanks", Diana said "my students gave it to me”.

“So, you like wolves then?” Logan questioned.

“I love ‘em”, Diana hugged it to herself “they’re my favourite animal". That made the mutant's inner animal very pleased indeed. "In fact…there’s this really interesting story about a wolf. My friend told it to me a good few years ago”.

“I’d like to hear it”, Logan said, interested.

“Alright”, Diana patted the space on the bed and Logan sat down. She then recounted the story of the moon and her lover.

“Blimey, sounds like Koo-koo-choo got screwed”, the mutant commented when she finished, making her laugh.

“Kuekuatsheu”, Diana corrected “it means the Wolverine”.

“Is that what you’re going to call this guy?” Logan asked picking up the wolf plushie.

Diana shook her head "he's already got a name: Logan", she replied. The mutant looked at her surprised, he didn't expect her to name it after him.

"Why my name?" he asked.

The ginger shrugged "I dunno, I guess I wanted to name it after the guy who saved my life", she explained "if that's ok with you".

"Uh…yeah that's fine", Logan said.

Diana smiled "good", she said, happy that he was ok that her wolf was named after him. She reached for the plushie and when her fingers brushed his, she got a small shock. Green eyes met brown and it seemed like time just stopped. As Logan stared at her, his senses seemed to be even more heightened. Lavender…petrichor… her scent. It was much stronger than before. Her heart beat was louder in his ears, its rhythm in tandem with his own. “Logan?” Diana questioned as he hastily got off the bed, backing away, looking almost…panicked.

“I’m sorry…I have to go”, he said and all but ran out of the room. Logan pressed himself against the wall outside, feeling rather overwhelmed. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he muttered. He pushed away from the wall and walked away from the room, doing his best to ignore the part of himself that wanted to go back.

\----------------------

To try and get his mind of what had happened, Logan went straight to the nearest pub/bar for a beer. As he sat there, hand wrapped around his glass, he watched couples dance wondering if he’d get the same reaction that he did to Diana. Minutes passed and he didn’t seem to have the same urge that he did when Michael was being inappropriate with the ginger haired woman.

That only served to confuse him more, why was it only Diana that affected him that way? Being around her made him feel different, less burdened by the wars he’d taken part in and the work he had done with Striker. But what was it about her though? What was it that made her different?

He went to take a drink of his beer when he caught a familiar scent. It was Michael. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the man being a little too friendly towards a scantily clad blonde. Then Diana’s boyfriend kissed her!

Logan got up from his stool and stormed over to Michael. “Logan, mate, what the hell?” the human demanded as the mutant, grabbed him and dragged him outside.

“I’m not your mate”, Logan growled shoving him against the wall “Does she mean that little to you?”

“The blonde? Man, she means nothin’ to me”, Michael replied “be a one night stand if I’m lucky”.

“I meant Diana!” Logan shouted “does she mean that little to you that you would cheat on her?!” 

"Mate, I don't know who you think you are, but my relationship with Diana is none of your conc-"

Michael was cut off when he found himself pressed against the wall even more, his eyes widening in alarm when he saw Logan raise his fist and for a moment he thought the man would hit him.

"She is in hospital after you left her to go drink with your _buddies_ ," Logan hissed through clenched teeth as his bone-claws slowly started to appear. The pain they brought only fueled his anger towards the man before him, "And you're out here trying to pick up?!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Michael shouted as he tried to lean away from Logan's claws....

“I should tear you apart”, Logan said, bringing them closer to him.

“Wait, wait!” Michael pleaded “D-don’t do this”.

“Why not?” the mutant demanded “this is the least you deserve”.

“Diana!” Michael blurted out as he raised his claws “If she knew what you were…if she found out you hurt me…she would _hate_ you”.

Logan slowly lowered his hand, his bone claws sliding back under his skin. He released Michael who sagged against the wall, trembling. “The way I see it, you got a choice. Either go back to that… _blonde_ OR you go home and visit your girlfriend at the hospital tomorrow, preferably with something that lets her know how much you care”, he said before turning on his heel and walking off, hands curled into fists. If he had stayed one more second longer, Michael would be very much a dead man.

When he got to the hospital the next morning, to make sure that Diana’s pathetic excuse for a boyfriend actually turned up, he was surprised to see Diana up and about and looking ready to leave. “Logan”, the young woman greeted, somewhat surprised to see him after his abrupt departure yesterday.

“Hey, Diana”, Logan greeted back “I uh…I’m sorry for leaving the way I did the other day”.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked “to make you leave?”

“No. No you didn’t”, the mutant replied “I-I had to go”.

“Right”, Diana said, not quite believing him “anyway, I’ve been discharged. Early if you can believe it. Apparently I’ve healed much faster than the doctors were expecting”, she added, changing the subject.

“That’s good news”, the mutant remarked.

“Yeah it is”, Diana agreed “so I guess that means I won’t be seeing you anymore. Or seeing you as much as this”.

“Oh, I don’t know. I would like to see you again”, Logan admitted.

“Really? You want to see me again or is wolfie Logan?” the young woman asked waving the plushie at him.

“It’s definitely you”, Logan replied with a smile “hey, has uh…Michael shown up yet?”

“Not yet”, Diana replied “I called him to say I was being released but all I got was the answering machine. Guess he slept in or something”.

 _Or he’s busy, getting you something nice_ Logan thought. He didn’t know whether to be happy about that possibility or not. He did give the man two choices and it was the better of the two since it meant Michael would see another day with all his limbs still intact. “I can take you home”, he offered “Saves you waiting for him for ages”.

“Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it”, Diana said, popping the toy into her bag. She dialled Michael…and got his voicemail…again. “Hey, honey, I’ve got a ride home from the hospital so you don’t need to pick me up”, she said “love you” she hung up and putting her phone away “Hopefully he gets the message before he turns up here”.

 _Or he’ll waste a trip_ Logan thought with a smirk as he shouldered her bag. He wouldn’t mind if he did that, it’ll make Michael look like an idiot.

\-----------------

"You know, I appreciate the lift but you didn't need to follow me into my house", Diana remarked.

"Just wanted to make sure you got in safely", Logan told her. It didn't feel right to leave her, not while she was still recovering.

"Well, thanks again", Diana said "why don’t you make yourself at home while I put my stuff away and then I'll make us some coffee. Maybe see if I can rouse Michael from his hibernation", she joked. His car was in the drive so she knew he had to be home.

"Wait", Logan said, grabbing her arm as she started toward the stairs.

"What's wrong?" the ginger asked, seeing him tense up.

"There's someone else here", Logan replied. His senses had been so focused on her that he had only caught the different scent.

"Yeah, that would be Michael", Diana reminded him.

"It’s not just him upstairs", Logan told her. He then took off up the stairs, the 22 year old racing after him as best as she could, hand pressed to her bandaged abdomen. Diana gasped when the mutant slammed open the door, revealing Michael in bed with another woman!

“Diana!” he exclaimed when he saw her.

“How could you?” Diana whispered, both angry and heartbroken.

“Diana, I-I can explain”, Michael stammered, scrambling out of bed, pulling on his boxers.

“There’s no need”, Diana snapped “how long has this been going on?” she demanded.

“One night but she doesn’t mean anything, I swear!” Michael insisted.

“Doesn’t mean anything!” the blonde said, shrilly, getting out bed too and taking the duvet with her “Looks like he hurt us both”, she remarked, going over to Diana. The ginger just responded by slapping her across the face.

“You bitch”, she snarled “get the hell out of my house!”

“Di, calm down…” Michael started.

“Calm down. CALM DOWN!” Diana shouted “Do not tell me to calm down. Michael do yourself a favour and get your stuff packed. You and I are done. And take _her_ ” she shot the blonde a glare “with you”. The ginger stormed out of the room.

“Diana wait!” Michael called, hurrying after her when Logan grabbed him.

“You’re not going anywhere”, he growled. However, the mutant was quick to let him go when Diana suddenly collapsed in the hallway! 


	3. You won't lose me

When Diana woke, she found herself laying on the sofa, Logan watching over her. “Did he leave?” she asked “with that…woman?”

“He did but not without a little help”, Logan answered.

“Please tell me you threw him out”, Diana said.

“More or less”, Logan told her, making the woman laugh though she winced afterward “here, these might help” and held out some painkillers and glass of water.

“Thanks”, Diana said, gingerly sitting up and taking the water and pills from him. She then took the pills with several sips of the cold liquid. “I still can’t believe Michael cheated on me”, she said, quietly “why would he do this to me?”

“He’s a bastard, that’s why”, Logan stated, sitting down next to her. He caught the tears that rolled down her cheek with his finger.

“I hate him!” she proclaimed, crying harder “I hate him so much!”

“I know”, Logan said. He was definitely going to have to have a word with Michael again and maybe pummel him a little bit....or possibly a lot. Diana rested her head in his shoulder. _Michael can wait_ he thought _Diana is more important right now_.

Several days passed since Diana had found out that Michael had cheated on her. The pain was still there but it wasn't so bad. It helped that Logan was around quite often. At times he was a welcome sight. Other times...not so much. But being with her while she visited the school she taught at, was one of the former.

“Miss Reyes!” the children cheered, running over to the ginger. Diana smiled at her students as they gathered around her.

“Hey guys”, she greeted.

“Are you coming back to school soon?” Jill questioned, hopeful.

“Not yet”, Diana replied making the kids groan in disappointment “Three more weeks”.

“Who’s that?” Kirsty asked, noticing Logan hanging back.

Diana glanced at the man and smiled “that’s Logan”, she answered.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Lisa piped up making the woman laugh.

“No sweetie, he’s just my friend”, Diana replied.

“Do you want him to be your boyfriend?” Lisa pressed.

“I don’t know…maybe one day”, the ginger confessed She had to admit she'd grown rather fond of Logan despite only knowing him for a short amount of time. That should make her a little uneasy at how quickly that had happened, since she had not long broken up with Michael. For some reason, Diana was far from feeling uneasy about the change in feelings. It actually brought a smile to her face and made her genuinely happy.

“Can we not talk about boyfriends?” Jack asked “its yucky”. He made a face and Diana chuckled in amusement.

“Alright, what do you want to talk about then?” she questioned.

“My wolf picture! I did it just for you!” Jack replied. He took her hand and tugged her toward the school.

Logan watched her go with a smile. The feeling of being drawn to her was much stronger than before and while he still didn’t understand why, he liked the way he felt when he was around Diana. He felt in a word: free. Free from the horrors of his past, of the things he’d done that he was not proud of. 

He then stiffened when his eye caught sight of a black car slowly driving past the school. Logan wasn’t stupid, he’d been around long enough to know a government vehicle when he sees one. He knew the only reason it was here was because of him. Well, it probably wasn’t looking for him per say but someone dear to him. _They’re not laying a hand on her_ he thought as he stalked toward the vehicle which only served the driver to speed off. Logan growled, hands curling into fists.

“Logan, are you ok?” Diana asked, having joined him with quite a few drawings in hand only to find the man, glaring in the distance.

“Fine”, the mutant replied, forcing himself to calm down before he turned to her “let’s get you home”.

\---------------------

That evening saw Diana alone at the house as Logan out somewhere. She wasn’t too worried though, she figured that he was taking some alone time since he was pretty quiet during the drive back. She tapped her finger on the counter as she waited for the kettle to boil. Just as she was pouring the hot water into her mug, there was a knock at the door.

Diana set the kettle back on its base and walked to the front door. “Hey, Lo…” she trailed off when she saw that it was her ex.

“Diana…” Michael started when she tried to slam the door on him but he put his foot in the way.

“Get out!” the woman shouted, backing away from him.

“Diana, please I just need to talk to you”, Michael tried again.

“I don’t want to talk to you, get out!” Diana cried. She took off down the hall to grab her phone from where she’d left it in the kitchen.

“Diana, come back!” Michael called, chasing after her. He grabbed her arm making her yelp. Diana snatched up the mug of hot tea with her free hand and tossed it at him. Michael shouted in pain from the hot liquid and let her go. Diana stumbled back, hitting her head on the edge of the counter. “Di!” Michael exclaimed crouching down beside her.

He touched the unconscious woman’s face, looking at her with concern. “Get away from her”, Logan growled behind him, having come into the home to find Diana on the floor with Michael next to her.

“Logan i-it was an accident”, he stammered getting to his feet, moving away from the ginger “I only wanted to talk to her”.

“Right…” Logan said slowly, not believing him.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Michael pleaded when the mutant grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him up “it was an accident!”

“I don’t believe you”, Logan said, shoving the backdoor open with his free hand and throwing Michael outside “I should’ve done more than give you a few bruises”.

Michael’s eyes widened even further at the sight of his claws. “Look man, I’m sorry! I’ll keep away from Diana, I promise! Just don’t hurt me!” he said quickly.

“You hurt Diana…again”, Logan repeated “so I’m gonna hurt you, even more”. Michael screamed as the mutant raised his bone claws…

\-------

Diana woke with a jerk, groaning as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She reached back, wincing as she touched the tender spot on the back of her head. “No more!” she heard Michael beg from her small back garden. The ginger grabbed hold of the counter, grimacing as she pulled herself to her feet. Diana made her way to the back door where she stopped dead, gasping at the sight of a bloody and beaten Michael. Logan was standing over him with…claws?!

“Oh my god…” she breathed, eyes wide.

“Diana run!” Michael shouted at her while Logan quickly put away his claws.

“What are you?” Diana asked quietly, looking at the man.

“Diana I…” Logan started.

“What are you?” the woman repeated, louder.

“He’s a monster!” Michael exclaimed “He tried to kill me! Now get out of here!”

“Michael, shut up”, Diana snapped “What are you, Logan?” she asked for the third time.

“I’m a mutant”, Logan admitted.

Diana stepped out into the back garden “Di, what are you doing?” Michael asked as she walked towards Logan “Stay away! He’s dangerous!”

The young woman just ignored him, focusing on Logan “does it hurt?” she asked gesturing to his hands “when they…come out?”

“Yes”, he replied. Logan watched as she reached for his hand, letting her take it. Diana gently ran her fingers over his knuckles. She didn’t seem scared at all. She seemed more…curious than anything.

“There’s no marks”, she murmured.

“I heal fast”, Logan explained.

“That’s amazing”, Diana breathed, lightly probing the area between his fingers.

“How can you be so calm?!” Michael exclaimed, managing to surge to his feet “he’s a freak! A monster!”

“Just because he has claws that come out of his hands, doesn’t make him a monster”, Diana said defensively.

“Look at me Diana!” Michael gestured to himself “he did this to me!”

“It’s no more than you deserve. Especially after you cheated on me!” Diana shot back “now do us a favour and get lost”.

Michael opened his mouth to argue but the ginger just shot him a look, telling him not to do that. He sighed “Diana…you should make _him_ leave”, he stated “he’s only going to hurt you too”. 

“He wouldn’t do that”, Diana said.

“You don’t know that Di”, Michael said as he passed.

“You wouldn’t hurt me”, Diana repeated, turning to Logan as soon as her ex was gone.

“How can you be so sure?” the mutant questioned “I lost it tonight with Michael and for a very good reason. That could very easily be you next time!”

“But it won’t be”, Diana assured him “Logan, if you were really that afraid of hurting me then you wouldn’t have saved my life. And you wouldn’t have come to the hospital or stuck around these past few days” she stepped closer to him “if you were really that afraid, you would keep your distance. But instead, you do the exact opposite so you can’t be that scared”.

“No…I guess not”, Logan admitted.

“Now, can we go inside?” Diana asked “its chilly and my head hurts”. At that Logan ushered her back inside the house, closing the door. He then got her some painkillers which she thanked him for. “I’m just gonna say it now. The next 3 months better be drama free after the day we’ve had”, she mumbled, leaning back against the cushions.

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see”, Logan said “though I’m pretty sure that ex of yours won’t come around anymore”.

“Considering that you beat the crap out of him, its very unlikely”, Diana agreed. A couple of hours later, she was bidding Logan goodnight and heading upstairs to bed.

\-------------

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Diana sat bolt upright when she was disturbed from her sleep by the fire alarm. She jumped out of bed, stumbling a little as her head was hurting her a bit. The young woman hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. “What happened?” Diana coughed, waving her hand at the smoke.

“I was trying to make you breakfast as a surprise but the toaster broke”, Logan grumbled. The ginger cracked open all the windows to allow the smoke to escape. When the air cleared, she saw it wasn’t the toaster that was broken but the toast itself had been incredibly burnt. As she looked at it, Diana couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh”, she said when she got an offended look from the mutant “its actually very sweet, thank you” she kissed his cheek “Now, I’m gonna help you make breakfast”. She turned to the side where the bread was and popped some slices in the toaster, changing the temperature. While she was doing this, she completely missed the smile that had appeared on Logan’s face at her kiss.

It wasn’t long before they were sitting down to eat the food that Diana had prepared with Logan’s ‘help’. “So, what do you want to do today?” he asked.

“To be honest, I just want a relaxing day after the recent craziness”, the young woman admitted “my head is still a little tender from yesterday”.

“Sounds like a good idea”, Logan agreed. They continued eating for a little bit before he spoke again “Diana, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone last night”.

“Logan, it’s not your fault”, Diana said softly.

“Yes, it is”, the mutant insisted. He’d left her alone to try and track down that mystery black car that had been at the school earlier, unfortunately with no luck. That decision very nearly cost him the woman that he held most dear. “If I hadn’t gone…I wouldn’t have almost lost you”, Logan said, quietly. Diana got up from her chair and went around the table to stand beside his one.

“You won’t lose me, Logan”, she promised and hugged him. Logan put his arms around her waist, holding her close. He closed his eyes, inhaling her scent: lavender and petrichor. These were quickly becoming his two favourite smells. The 22 year old glanced down at him when she heard him purr or the dog’s version of it which is a low rumbling noise. It felt kinda weird to be coming from a person but then again he is a mutant so this was probably part of it.


	4. Love blooms

“How’s your head?” Logan asked after they’d finished their second movie. 

“It’s a little better”, Diana replied from where she was curled up next to him “this is definitely what I needed”.

“Good, I’m glad”, the mutant said, happy about her response. It had been a while since he’d done anything so relaxing like this, especially with someone he cared about. His last career didn’t exactly permit normal things like that. Logan shook his head, not wanting to lose himself in his past. Instead, he decided to focus on something better…Diana Reyes. He still didn’t quite understand why he’d grown so fond of the woman. And why her scent sometimes drove him crazy, not that he would admit it.

Diana glanced up at him, noting that he seemed to be deep in thought “penny for your thoughts?” she questioned.

“Hm?”

“You seem to be thinking hard about something. You ok?” Diana asked, sitting up properly and switched the TV off.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about things”, Logan answered.

“Oh? What sort of things?” Diana queried, interested.

“Well…uh…you for one thing”, the mutant confessed “I like spending time with you”.

“Me too”, the ginger said with a smile “Definitely a step up from the last guy I hung out with…mostly cos he cheated on me. Bastard”, she muttered.

That was a first time Logan had heard her mention Michael in some capacity after the ‘incident’. “How are you doing with that?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine”, Diana replied “Does it hurt? Yes, absolutely. Like someone had pulled out my heart and stomped on it” Logan’s jaw clenched in anger at her words “but I’m not going to let that stop me from getting on with my life” she laughed “kinda helps that you beat the crap out of him”.

Logan chuckled “that did feel good”, he admitted. _Though I wish I’d ripped him into shreds_ he added mentally to himself. The next time he came across Michael, he wasn’t going to hold back.

“Let not talk about _him_ or that incident anymore”, Diana said “we don’t we talk about something else?”

“Like what?” Logan asked and the 22 year old shrugged.

“I don’t know. Something else”, she said.

“How about that moon story?” Logan suggested, laying down so his head rested on her lap.

“Sure”, Diana said “the moon used to have a lover named Kuekuatsheu. They lived in the spirit world and every night they would wander the skies together…”

Logan closed his eyes and listened to her soft voice as she recounted the story, her fingers running through his hair. For the first time in quite a very long time, he could actually admit that he was happy. Content even.

\-------------

Three weeks later…

 _Man I forgot how tiring it was to teach those energiser bunnies_ Diana thought as she left the school, arms laden with books. Tiredness aside, she had a wonderful first day back at work. They’d thrown a party for her which lasted a good couple of hours and then it was onto lessons. Unfortunately the kids were still a bit hyper so it took a while to get them to calm down in order to start class. Though Diana made the day a bit more relaxed than normal for her students just so that she could get back into the swing of things. Plus she didn’t want to overdo it and be forced to go home.

The young woman loitered at the curb, waiting for Logan. Since she didn’t have a car due to Michael and her sharing one before they split, the mutant was having to give her a ride to and from work. Not that he didn’t mind. Over these past few weeks, they’d been getting a lot closer and in all honesty, Diana couldn’t imagine _not_ having Logan in her life. She had grown incredibly fond of him. Maybe even fallen in… _whoa! Hold on! It’s too soon to say that I’m in love with him!_ The 22 year old thought, shaking her head.

Suddenly a black vehicle skidded to a stop in front of her, its passenger throwing the door open and jumping out. Diana threw the books at him and took off. She screamed when he grabbed the back of her jacket, pulling her into his grasp. “Let go of me!” she cried as he dragged her toward the car.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Your boyfriend is paying me handsomely for me to deliver you to him”, the man said.

“I don’t have a boyfriend you bastard, now let me go!” Diana shouted causing her captor to roughly press a hand over her mouth. She bit his palm hard when Logan’s truck appeared. “LOGAN!”

The mutant bailed out of his vehicle, bone claws out. Diana gasped when the guy holding her got out a switchblade and held it against her neck. “Stay back freak or I’ll kill her”, the man threatened. Logan stayed where he was, though he was itching to hurt the lowlife holding his Diana hostage. 

“Why would you do that?” the ginger asked “I thought you were being paid to deliver me!”

“I wasn’t told that you had to be unharmed”, the man sneered, pressing the blade harder against her skin, causing a couple of drops of blood to appear. The sight of it made Logan even angrier but he couldn’t do anything, not without the man hurting Diana even more.

The 22 year old gave him an opportunity when she rammed her elbow into her captor forcing him to let her go. Diana threw herself out of the way, allowing Logan to attack the human. She watched him drag the man off, out of sight of the school. While there wasn’t any children around, there were still some teachers working. Diana gathered up the books and bag that were on the ground and dropped them into the truck. She then waited for the mutant to come back, hand pressed to her neck where the knife had cut her.

It was a good few minutes later when Logan appeared. Diana noted that he had blood on him but didn’t question it as she already knew the answer. He’d dealt with the man who’d hurt her. “Are you alright?” Logan asked, gently prying her hand away from her neck and inspecting the cut.

“I’m fine”, Diana replied “I just want to know _who_ hired that man to grab me. He said it was my ‘boyfriend’ but I don’t have one anymore” her eyes widened “oh my god…” she breathed “he wouldn’t do that. Would he?”

“I’m afraid he did”, Logan told her. He learned that much from the man before he killed him.

“Michael…I can’t believe he would go that far. He’s insane”, Diana stated “and what if…what if he tried again? What if he harmed one of my students in the process?!”

“That’s not going to happen”, Logan assured her “I won’t let him get you, I promise”. They got into the jeep and the mutant drove off.

\---------

“Uh, Logan? Where did you take us?” Diana asked when Logan pulled up at the top of a hill.

“Somewhere I like to come from time to time”, the mutant replied. He got out of the vehicle, the young woman following suit.

“Wow, its beautiful”, Diana breathed, taking in the view “I can see why you like to come here”, she remarked, leaning against the hood of the jeep.

“Its sure is nice”, Logan agreed. _Though I’ve seen better_ he thought, casting a glance the 22 year old. After almost losing her…again, it made him realise that he was more than just fond of her. For the first time in a very long time, he found someone that he cared about. Someone that he…loved. “Diana there’s something I need to tell you…”

“Yes?” the ginger asked, turning to him.

“I…uh…care about you”, he mumbled.

“I care about you too”, Diana said.

“No, I _care_ about you”, Logan repeated, emphasising the word ‘care’. Diana was pretty sure her heart stopped when he touched her face tenderly before kissing her! “I love you, Diana”, he declared, pulling back.

 _I can’t believe he loves me too!_ Diana thought, rather giddily. She honestly hadn’t expected that. “I love you too”, the ginger admitted.

Logan smiled, wrapping his arm around her waist, holding her close to him. “You know this means that I’m never letting you go, right?” he stated.

“Good, cos I don’t want you to”, Diana said, leaning against him. As the pair stood there, the bond between themselves grew, strengthened by their admission of love for each other. Little did the new couple know, Michael was watching them, seething with rage at how the freak had swooped in and stole his girl away. However, deep down… _very_ deep down…the more rational part of himself was aware that it was his fault. He was the one who cheated after all. Unfortunately he was too angry to think or behave rationally.

“Logan needs to go”, he muttered quietly to himself. He _had_ to get rid of that mutant! But how? He couldn’t beat him and he had the scars to prove it. Turning Diana against Logan was out of the question too, sadly. Kidnapping her didn’t work either. Perhaps if he learned more about Logan, he could discover if he had any other weaknesses, besides the obvious.

\--------------

Logan smiled as Diana approached him, arms laden with books, occasionally calling back goodbye’s to the kids. After her almost kidnapping, he made sure to be at the school as soon as he possibly could to avoid anything like that happening again. “Hey”, he greeted when she reached him.

“Hey backatcha”, Diana greeted back “thanks”, she added when he took her books.

“How was today? Typical Friday?” Logan questioned as they walked to his truck.

“Pretty much”, Diana replied, sliding her hand into his free one “Got a ton of homework to mark so it’s gonna be a late one tonight”, she added.

“And here I was hoping that I would have you all to myself tonight”, Logan mock complained. Ever since telling her that he loved her three days ago, he’d all but moved into her home as he made sure to be there most days. Mainly because he wanted to be with her but also to ensure that she stayed safe.

“Sorry, but if I get it all done tonight then it’ll just be us over the weekend”, Diana promised.

“Good. I don’t like sharing you with those books”, Logan mumbled and the young woman laughed.

“Well, tough. Teaching is my job. You don’t hear me complain about yours”, she stated.

“Good point”, Logan agreed.

“I know it is, that’s why I said it”, Diana said with a grin, making him chuckle.

\-----------------

Logan stopped by the table a few hours later, smiling at a sleeping Diana, her head resting on the open book she’d been marking. She often did this which he found fairly amusing and a little endearing too. He gently shook her shoulder, laughing when Diana pushed his hand away, mumbling incoherently at him. “Diana, its time you went to bed”, he said.

“No, I can’t”, the young woman groaned, sleepily sitting up “I gotta finish this”. She picked up her pen, protesting when Logan plucked it out of her hand.

“No, _you_ need to sleep”, he corrected.

“Hey! Put me down!” Diana exclaimed when Logan picked her up.

“Nope, you need sleep, not work”, he insisted.

“But I’m almost done”, Diana whined.

“You can finish tomorrow”, Logan stated as he ascended the stairs.

“No, I have to…have to finish…” the ginger trailed off as she fell asleep in his arms. The mutant shook his head at her, unable to keep the smile off his face. He carried her into her room, laying her down on the bed, pulling the blanket over her.

“Good night Diana”, Logan softly, brushing some of her hair away from her face and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Stay”, Diana mumbled sleepily “please”.

“Ok”, Logan agreed and got into bed next to her.

The next morning, Logan was the first one to wake. He looked down at the young woman in his arms and smiled. It seemed as if during the night, he ended up holding her. Not that he minded. “Morning”, he said when she started to stir.

“Morning”, Diana murmured, opening her green eyes “can we not get up?” she requested “I’d like to have a lazy morning”. She knew that she should finish marking her students’ homework but in all honesty she was far too comfy to want to get out of bed.

“That’s fine with me”, Logan said. He was quite content to spend the next few hours relaxing in bed with Diana. “Maybe you could tell me about Koo-koo-choo again”, he suggested, running his fingers through her ginger hair.

Diana laughed, knowing that he mispronounced Kuekuatsheu on purpose…again “Kuekuatsheu”, she lightly corrected “and of course I’ll tell you”. The woman then proceeded to recite the story that she’d told him many times about the moon and her lover. Logan closed his eyes, enjoying the softness of her voice. Before long he drifted off again.


	5. All good things

“That box wasn’t heavy!” Diana called after Logan when he took it from her “I could manage”. About a few weeks or so after they’d kissed, Logan officially moved in. Well, it was the next logical step considering he was there more than at his own home. Plus it wasn’t like they were breaking up any time soon, what with the multiple dates they’d been on AND the amount of affection they were showing each other.

“I know!” Logan called back. Diana shook her head and turned back to his truck to quickly grab the last box. She hurried into her home and set it down in the hall just her boyfriend joined her.

“The last box”, Diana proclaimed “does this mean you’ve officially moved in or is that after its unpacked?”

“Unpacked”, Logan replied.

“Oh, well…that’s easy”, Diana said, hauling the box into the kitchen. She opened it up and took out what little crockery Logan had. She tossed the now empty box towards the back door making him laugh. “Now you’ve officially moved in”, she declared.

“Finally”, Logan said, stepping closer to her, settling his hands on her hips “we can celebrate”.

“And how are we going to do that?” Diana asked, putting her hands around his neck.

Logan smirked “I have an idea”, he answered. He gave her a quick kiss before he scooped her up and ran upstairs to their bedroom.

As the months passed, the couple fell into an easy routine. With everything going so well, Logan had an idea to build a home that wasn’t tainted by Michael as Diana’s was. So he and a few buddies spent a long…long time creating the perfect place, a little wooden cabin on the very hill where he and Diana said ‘I love you’.

While Logan and Diana were on cloud nine as it were, Michael was falling deeper into debt and drink. He had turned to alcohol when he’d failed to find anything on Logan that would help him get rid of the freak once and for all.

\-------------

~1 year later~

“How much further is it?” Diana asked as she clutched Logan’s hand tightly as he led her along, blindfolded.

“Not much further”, Logan replied. He stopped when he got within a couple of feet of the wooden cabin. “Here we are”, he said and took the cloth away from her eyes. Diana blinked several times in order to adjust to the sudden sunlight but after they did, she saw the home. It looked rather nice and fairly new. “Happy birthday”, Logan said, holding up a key.

“Logan…I don’t know what to say…” Diana breathed, touched by the gesture. She never expected him to get her a house for her birthday.

“Want to see the inside?” Logan questioned.

“Yes, please”, Diana answered. The mutant took her to the front door, taking the key from her hand and unlocking the door. She took in the cabin as Logan gave her a tour. “It’s very well made”, she remarked, running a hand over the kitchen countertop.

“Thanks”, Logan said “was meant to be a Christmas present but it took us longer than we expected”.

“Wait, ‘we’?” Diana asked “Did you build this?”

Logan nodded “I sure did, along with a few of the guys from my work”, he replied. He wanted to do something nice and to give Diana a home that wasn’t ruined by her ex-boyfriend. The asshat had decided that after several months of keeping his distance, he showed up super drunk and spoiled their evening. Michael didn’t leave without a fuss though, breaking a few things in the process.

Diana looked around the kitchen “You built us a house”, she stated in awe “I love it” she then kissed him “I love you”.

“I love you too”, Logan said. He leant in, brushing his lips against hers “want to christen the place?” he murmured.

Diana smiled, knowing what he was implying “absolutely”, she said. Logan kissed her properly before taking her into their new bedroom. 

\--------------

Weeks passed by, both Logan and Diana enjoying their new home and of course each other. The young woman walked along the road, shopping in hand with the usual smile on her face. It quickly faded when a black car pulled up, the driver rolling down its window to reveal a in a suit. “Miss Reyes? May I have a word?” he asked.

“Nope”, Diana replied and continued walking.

“Please Miss Reyes”, the man said.

“I said ‘no’”, Diana repeated.

“It’s about Logan”, the man said, making her stop.

“What about him?” the ginger questioned, turning to the car but making sure to keep her distance so that the mystery man couldn’t grab her.

“I need his help but he refuses”, Striker explained “I was hoping that you could talk to him. Make him come around”.

“Now why the hell would I do that?” Diana demanded “If Logan doesn’t want to help then there’s no way I can convince him. And in all honesty? I don’t think I want to bring anything you have to say Mr…?”

“Striker. William Striker”

“I don’t think I want to bring up anything you have to say Mr Striker”, Diana said “We’re in a good place and I’m not about to let some jackass in a suit ruin it. Good day”.

“His country needs him!” Striker called after as she walked off. Diana turned back to him and stuck her middle finger up.

“Go to hell Striker”, she spat and carried on walking.

\---------------------

Sleep didn’t come easily for Logan that night. His mind was still reeling from Diana telling him about her conversation with Striker. He could tear that man apart for coming after her! He knew that it was essentially retaliation for him refusing.

Logan glanced down at his sleeping girlfriend in his arms. She was safe for the moment. Safe from his past. It honestly had been too much to hope for that it wouldn’t come back to get him after all this time…and yet it had. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise”, Logan vowed. He then closed his eyes and within minutes he fell asleep.

The next morning when Diana woke up, she found that Logan was gone. There was a note left on the pillow stating that he’d gone out but wasn’t going to be long. The young woman set the note onto the table and then got out of bed to start her day.

Diana pottered about in the kitchen, keeping one ear open for Logan’s truck. She was making a cup of tea when there was a knock at the door. The ginger walked over to it and pulled it open to reveal not who she was expecting. “Diana, right?” he asked.

“Yes”, Diana confirmed “I’m sorry but who are you?”

“Victor”, the man replied “I’m Jimmy’s brother” at Diana’s confused look, he added “you might know him better as Logan”.

“Oh, yeah I do”, the ginger said “he’s not here at the moment but I’ll tell him you stopped by”. Diana tried to close the door on him but he just shoved it open.

“Now that wasn’t very nice”, Victor remarked entering the cabin. Diana backed away when his nails extended several inches.

“G-get out!” she shouted, her voice trembling.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that”, Victor said with a smirk, flashing his fangs at her “you see, I need to give Jimmy a message and you’re going to help me do that”. Diana screamed as he ran towards her…

\----------------------

When Logan finally came back home, immediately he knew something was wrong. Without even waiting for his truck to stop, he leapt out and ran toward the cabin. The front door was kicked in, furniture was everywhere and there was this scent…the air was thick and heavy with it. His older half-brother, Victor. "Diana!" he shouted going from room to room, trying to find her "Diana! D-" he broke off, seeing a trail of blood on the floor.

Heart pounding, he followed it to where his love lay, pale and unmoving in a pool of blood. "No", he whispered, hands shaking as he tried to find a pulse but he couldn't find one. Even with his hearing, he wasn't able to pick up a heartbeat nor even shallow breaths to indicate she was still alive.

Tears rolled down his face as he carefully picked her up, afraid to break her even though she was already gone. He cradled her lifeless body, sobbing, mourning her. Logan then let out an anguished roar.


	6. 2003

**AN: right! Here’s the first of the time jumps. The next three chapters is vaguely based on the first X-Men movie.**

Kaitlyn Diana Stark hummed under her breath, fingers deftly spinning the Rubik cube around as Henry drove along the snowy road. She was utterly bored and tired of being shuttled from place to place, watching her father showing off his weapons and dating the super modes. Henry was currently driving toward where they were supposed to meet Tony. Suddenly a tree was hurled at the SUV!

“Hang on!” Henry shouted as he tried to swerve to avoid it. Unfortunately, it slammed into the hood of the vehicle and flipped it over! The ginger yelped as her body was jerked forward, the seatbelt being the only thing stopping her from going through the windshield as the car landed.

“Henry! Henry are you ok?” Kaitlyn asked reaching for her seatbelt. There was no response from her driver/ bodyguard. The teenager ripped the seatbelt off, wincing as she hit the ceiling of the car. She twisted herself around, making her way to the front. “Oh, Henry”, she breathed, her heart breaking at the sight of the man, dead. She couldn’t mourn him just yet, she _had_ to get to safety first.

Kaitlyn punched out the remainder of the glass in the front passenger’s window and began to crawl out of the wreckage. She was only halfway out when someone grabbed her and dragged her out the rest of the way. Kaitlyn grunted when Victor slammed her into the side of the vehicle. “Normally when I kill someone, they stay dead, Diana”, he stated, wrapping his hand around her neck and started to squeeze “not come back to life and get younger”.

“You got the wrong girl!” the ginger choked out “I’m not Diana!”

“You can’t fool me, I know your scent anywhere”, the mutant sneered, squeezing harder.

“Please…stop”, Kaitlyn begged. She tried to will her powers into working but she was finding it difficult to focus while she was being strangled. Black dots started to appear in her vision and she was on the verge of passing out when the ginger heard a roar of

“VICTOR!”

The mutant was ripped away causing Kaitlyn to fall to the floor, coughing. She looked up to see Victor fighting it out with another man that had…metal claws! “Whoa”, Kaitlyn coughed both impressed and wary of this newcomer, even though he’d saved her life. However, as she looked at the man with claws, she felt this weird connection thing to him. The ginger shook her head. _Maybe it was due to almost being strangled_ she thought pulling herself to her feet. “Oh, that’s gonna hurt”, she mumbled, wincing at her saviour was thrown backwards, landing onto the hood of his RV.

“Now to finish you off”, Victor said turning to Kaitlyn.

“Yeah, I have no plans to die today”, the Nephilim told him, holding up her fists. The man may have caught her off guard the one time but now she was going to show him what a 13 year old half angel can do!

Victor laughed, flashing his fangs at her “and what do you think you can do? You’re just a weak child!”

Kaitlyn responded with an energy blast, the force throwing the mutant into a nearby tree “I’m a _teenager_!” she shouted “and I’m not weak!” she instantly regretted those words and she dropped to her knees “oh, that’s gonna leave a mark”, she said weakly, seeing the piece of glass in her side. How she didn’t know it was there before, she had no idea. She let out a small cry as she pulled it out, pressing a hand firmly to the wound.

“Looks like you _are_ a weak child”, Victor sneered before running over to grab her. Kaitlyn quickly thew up a shield, to block his hits.

“Help!” she cried as the mutant continued to pound on the shield, forcing her to draw it closer to herself. The teen’s weakened state meant that she wasn’t going to keep it up for much longer. “HELP!” she screamed as Victor slammed his fists on the shield and it broke, his sharpened nails/claws stopped inches from her face.

“I’m going to enjoy getting rid of you a second time”, he proclaimed, raising his hand. Kaitlyn closed her eyes, braced herself for the blow…which never came. Instead the weather suddenly turned, the wind beginning to gust and snow falling from the sky in thick flurries. Then a red laser beam came out of nowhere, blasting Victor in the back.

Kaitlyn cautiously opened her eyes and was startled by a very tanned woman with white hair in front of her. “Don’t worry, child. You’re safe now”, she assured the teenager, holding out a hand.

“I’m not a child”, the ginger stated, taking her hand and allowing herself to be helped up “I’m a teen..” she trailed off as she fainted into Storm’s arms. 

\---------

When Logan regained consciousness he found himself laying on a padded examination chair/table thing, shirtless and attached to a couple of machines that were monitoring his vitals. A strong whiff of lavender and petrichor caught his nose along with a woman’s perfume. The mutant turned his head to see a red haired woman standing by the examination chair/table that an unconscious Kaitlyn was laying on. He caught a flash of silver in the woman’s hand. It was a needle! Without even thinking, he jumped into action and shoved the older female away from the teenager.

Logan took a protective stance over the ginger’s unconscious form, letting out a warning growl when the red head tried to approach. “It’s ok”, she said gently, holding her hands up “my name is Dr Jean Grey. I wasn’t going to hurt her, I was just going to take a blood sample…”

“The hell you are”, Logan argued “keep your distance”.

Jean opened her mouth to argue when Charles Xavier appeared in his electronic wheelchair, followed by Storm/Ororo and Cyclops/Scott. “You better do as he says”, the bald telepath suggested “Logan is currently running on primal instinct”, he nodded to angry and defensive mutant “he’s currently perceiving you as a threat to his Mate”.

“His mate?” Jean repeated “b-but she’s just a child!”

“ _Teenager”_ , Storm corrected.

“She’s still too young”, Jean argued “at least 13 years old”.

“It doesn’t matter how old Miss Stark is, Logan will be whatever she needs him to be. And her safety will always be his top priority”, Charles explained “use your powers Jean”, he gently urged “you’ll be able to sense that the bond between them is undeniable”.

“I’ll take your word for it”, the red head mumbled.

Ororo stepped toward Logan, hands up “Logan, its alright”, she said softly when he seemingly tensed up even more “we’re not going to hurt Kaitlyn” she gestured to Scott “ _We_ saved you both”.

Logan narrowed his eyes at her “I don’t believe you”, he growled.

“You should”, Scott spoke up “cos she’s telling the truth”. Before Logan could argue even more, Kaitlyn started to stir. In her groggy state, she didn’t notice the mutant standing above her. What she did see was the white hair of the woman who’d saved her life.

“It’s you…” she breathed when her vision cleared a bit more “how did you change the weather like that?” she asked, curious. She was pretty surprised at how she hadn’t come across anyone else with abilities before given her Nephilim status.

“That’s my power, manipulating the weather”, Ororo explained.

“It was pretty cool, no pun intended”, Kaitlyn commented earning her a smile from the woman “thank you by the way, for saving my life”. Logan relaxed slightly, now knowing that the white haired mutant was telling the truth as was the guy with the stupid glasses. 

“You’re quite welcome”, Ororo said, turning her gaze to Logan, giving him a ‘see?’ look. Kaitlyn followed her eyes to see the mutant that was stationed rather protectively above her. _There it is again_ she thought, feeling that same strange connection she’d felt before _what the hell is this thing?_

“You’re the one with the claws”, she stated “You saved me from…” she frowned, trying recall his name but her brain still felt like mush.

“Victor”, Logan supplied.

“Right…him…” Kaitlyn murmured, her eyes starting to close.

“Hey, hey, stay with me”, Logan urged, carefully grasping her hand.

“I can’t”, she whispered “I’m so tired”. Normally she would be feeling much better thanks to her accelerated healing but for some reason she still felt she hadn’t recovered at all. She didn’t know if something was wrong with her ability. Nothing could do that…unless…of course. Henry. Being effected emotionally by a death would hinder her gift to heal properly. And it had happened before. It took longer for a sprained wrist to heal due to having lost her cat. “I just need to sleep more”, Kaitlyn mumbled “then I’ll be fine…I promise”.

“What’s wrong with her?” Logan all but demanded. Despite her assurances that she would be find after some rest but he couldn’t help be worried for the ginger. While she is a lot younger than Diana, her scent was exactly the same. He didn’t know how that was possible and frankly he didn’t really care. In a way he had his girl…his moon back and he be damned if he didn’t do everything he could to protect her.

“She lost a quite a bit of blood from the wound in her side and the rest of her is a little battered from the ‘accident’”, Jean explained “but she _will_ be fine. With plenty of rest, Kaitlyn will heal. Now I suggest that you all leave and I’ll look after her”. The red head tried to move forward but Logan just shot her a glare.

“ _I_ will look after her”, he stated “not you”. He didn’t trust Jean at all. The two that helped him save Kaitlyn, he trusted them a little bit more though he still wouldn’t want them to be alone with the girl. Jean opened her mouth to argue when Charles spoke up.

“If Logan wishes to look after Kaitlyn then we will respect his wishes”, he said “We’ll leave you to it”, he added to Logan who nodded, grateful that the guy in the wheelchair had intervened.

“Wait, the other girl…Marie”, he said as they all started to file out of the room “is she ok?”

Charles glanced back at him with a smile “She’s fine”, he answered.

“Good, that’s good”, Logan said, relieved that she was alright. He watched the other mutants leave before going back to Kaitlyn. He took her hand again. “I don’t know if you can hear me. There’s this story that a…friend of mine told me quite a lot. Its about the moon and why she was so lonely. It’s because she used to have a lover named Kuekuatsheu. They lived in the spirit world and every night they would wander the skies together…” in her unconscious state, Kaitlyn could hear every word and as she listened, the wound in her side knitted itself back together.

\------------

 _That child doesn’t deserve to be Logan’s ‘Mate’_ Jean thought bitterly as she looked over Kaitlyn’s test results. There was no X-gene. _She’s not even a mutant_. The telekinetic didn’t know what she was. She was more than human that was for sure. The test result confirm her teammates report about her having abilities. Her physiology was something she hadn’t seen before. _What the hell is Kaitlyn Stark?_

Wanting some answers, she headed back down to the med bay to find that the girl was awake. The red head’s jaw clenched in annoyance as she watched Kaitlyn running her fingers through Logan’s hair, the mutant apparently asleep, head resting in her lap. To the ginger this wasn’t unusual, she used to play with her dad’s hair all the time. It was sometimes the only way to get Tony to fall asleep whenever he was up for hours on end tinkering away in his workshop. “What are you?” Jean demanded.

“Kaitlyn Diana Stark”, the 13 year old replied, glancing at her “Only child of Tony Stark which is hard to believe since he’s a bit of a playboy. Or he used to be” the ginger frowned, thinking “well, he still is but he claims that he’s trying to do better for me”.

“I didn’t ask _who_ you are. I want to know _what_ you are”, Jean said.

“I know you did but considering you asked me ever so nicely, I decided to not give you the answer you wanted”, Kaitlyn sassed. She then winced when she felt this probing inside her mind. “You’ve got to be kidding me”, she complained, hopping off the examination chair, taking care not to jostle Logan too much not realising that he wasn’t actually asleep “trying to read my mind? What the hell is wrong with you lady? You do not go poking around in people’s heads without their permission!” that had Logan sitting bolt upright “you want to know what I am? Alright, I’ll tell you…I’m a Nephilim. Half human-half angel. And you just pissed me off!”

Before Jean or Logan could do anything, Kaitlyn threw a blast of golden energy at the red head, shoving her backward. The male mutant was quick to catch the teenager when she collapsed. Her wound may have healed but she wasn’t fully 100% and using her power wasn’t the best idea. Kaitlyn didn’t care though, the bitch deserved it and more.

“What’s going on?” Ororo asked, as she Scott and Charles entered the room.

“She attacked me!” Jean exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Kaitlyn. Logan gently pushed the ginger behind him, glaring at the red head.

“ _You_ attempted to read her mind without her permission”, he shot back “Kaitlyn was defending herself”.

“You call ‘that’ defending her-self?” Jean repeated “it hurt!”

“Count yourself lucky I’m not back to full strength”, Kaitlyn said angrily. She tried to move to stand beside Logan but he kept her firmly behind him. “If I was, I would’ve put you through that damn wall”.

“Is there somewhere else she can rest?” Logan asked Charles “somewhere that’s not here?” he shot a pointed look at Jean.

“Of course, follow me”, the telepath said. He wheeled himself out of the room, Logan and Kaitlyn following.

As soon as they were gone, Scott rounded on his girlfriend “What’s the matter with you Jean? You know better than to pry into anyone’s mind without them wanting you to”, he scolded.

“I’m sorry but she’s _not_ a mutant, I had to know what she was”, Jean insisted “I had to know if she was dangerous to the other students”.

“I doubt she would harm any of them”, Ororo remarked.

“She hurt me easy enough, she’ll do the same to those kids”, Jean argued.

“ _No_ she won’t”, the white haired woman shot back “and we’re not talking about this anymore”. Ororo turned and walked out the room.

“I’m disappointed in you”, Scott stated, shaking his head at his girlfriend before following his friend and teammate. He’d never known the red head to act like that, especially not toward a kid.


	7. Hide and Seek

Kaitlyn stood by the window watching the young mutants play outside, the phone’s handset pressed to her ear, listening to it ring. She shouldn’t be this anxious. Her father would be overjoyed to hear that she was alive.

 _“Hello?”_ Tony greeted _“who is this?”_

“Dad its me”, the 13 year old said.

 _“Kait! Oh thank god!”_ Tony exclaimed _“When I heard what happened and that you were missing…I feared the worst. Where are you?”_

“Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters”, the ginger replied. Her father went very quiet on the other end of the phone. “Dad? You ok?” she questioned.

 _“Fine”_ , Tony replied though with her heightened hearing, she could tell that his tone of voice changed. He sounded almost…upset. _“Listen sweetheart, I’m going to be leaving as soon as I can. Just stay where you are until I get there, ok?”_

“Ok, I will”, Kaitlyn promised.

 _“Good. Oh, and honey? Be careful around those mutants. More than one can read minds”_ , Tony warned.

The teenager frowned “you know about the mutants? How?” she asked.

 _“I’ll tell you when I see you”,_ Tony answered _“I love you and I’ll be there as soon as I can”._

“Love you too”, Kaitlyn said and her father hung up. She set the phone back on the cradle and as soon as she did so, there was a tapping on the glass, making her jump. She turned around to see a brown haired girl with pretty vine like markings framing her face at the window. The girl waved at her. Kaitlyn crossed over to it and pushed the window up. “How did you…?” she trailed off when she saw that the brunette was perched on a tree branch “never mind”.

“Controlling plants and flowers is my gift”, the girl explained “I’m Faye. What’s your name?”

“Kaitlyn”, the ginger supplied.

“Nice to meet you Kaitlyn”, Faye said brightly “So are you really an angel? I heard Dr Grey griping about you and she mentioned you were one”.

“I’m half angel, half human. A Nephilim”, Kaitlyn explained.

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” Faye breathed “can you fly?”

The ginger shook her head “I’m afraid not”, she replied “so, why are you here Faye? Is it just to see if what Jean was saying true?”

“For the most part”, the other girl admitted “I also wanted to see if you wanted to join in. Some of us are going to play hide-and-seek in the woods nearby”.

“That would a game you’d excel at then considering where you are playing it”, Kaitlyn remarked.

“It would be if we weren’t going to use our powers”, Faye said and the ginger raised her brows, incredulous. 

“Why do I get the feeling that’s gonna last all of 5 minutes”, she commented.

“Well, you won’t know unless you join in. So how about it angel? You wanna play?” Faye challenged.

“Absolutely, Gaea”, Kaitlyn shot back with a teasing grin.

“Ooh, I like that”, the brunette remarked as the other teenager joined her on the tree branch “might use it for when I finally become an X-man…or should that be X-woman?”

“You want to be a part of that group? Seriously?” Kaitlyn questioned. She for one had no desire to join when she was older. Granted she wasn’t a mutant but that didn’t stop Charles or ‘wheels’ as Logan called him from stating that she would be a good fit one day. She didn’t want to be a member of the X-men. No, offense but she had other things that she needed to do. Her charity work for example. Plus her the way her father had changed when she told him where she was, it was highly doubtful that he would want her to join them.

“Of course! I mean this school, the professor, he’s given me so much. I owe it to him to join”, Faye said, slowly lowering the tree branch they were sitting on “besides what else would a mutant like me do?”

“You could…I dunno, help me? I’m an ambassador for a charity that helps orphaned children. And one day when I’m older, I’d like to start up an organisation”.

“Wow, you love to dream big huh?” Faye teased while they climbed down the tree, the branch having gotten back to its original place “and as much as I appreciate the offer but the outside world isn’t so friendly to people like me”.

“You forget that I’m not fully human”, Kaitlyn reminded her “if anyone found out…they stick me in a lab. Well, they can certainly try. If my father doesn’t stop him with all his power and resources, I would certainly not let anyone take me without a fight”.

From a downstairs window, Charles and Logan was watching Kaitlyn and Faye run over to four other mutants the same age. “You see Logan, Kaitlyn is perfectly safe and fitting in rather well with other students, irrespective of their differences”, the telepath stated.

“Doesn’t stop me from worrying though”, Logan admitted “especially with how Jean was”.

“It was certainly out of character for her. I don’t know what has gotten into her”, Charles confessed “but I assure you that she won’t be doing that again”.

“You better make sure she doesn’t”, Logan said, sternly “or next time it won’t be Kaitlyn attacking her, it’ll be me”.

Outside the group was getting ready to play hide-and-seek when Jean came out. “Get away from them”, she ordered, looking pointedly at Kaitlyn “now!”

“Leave her alone Dr Grey”, Faye said, moving to stand next to the ginger, arms folded “she wasn’t doing anything wrong”.

“She’s not a mutant. She doesn’t belong”, Jean spat.

“This is the school for _gifted_ youngsters”, Morgan, a boy with cat like eyes piped up “last time we checked, Kait has powers like us. By all rights, that makes her gifted”.

“In other words back the hell off and let a group of friends get on with their game”, Faye added. A smile appeared on Kaitlyn’s face at the word ‘friends’. During her childhood, her father kept her pretty sheltered. She was home-schooled so never really had any friends. Well, she knew a couple of kids from that day-care place she had spent a very short while before Tony took her away. So she was very happy when she heard that these three teens were her friends. People who’d accept her for _who_ she was, for _what_ she was because they were like her. Different.

“You three are making a terrible mistake”, Jean stated.

“Don’t go away angry, just go away”, Willa, a blonde haired girl, spoke up. The red head huffed in annoyance and stormed off.

“Nice one”, Dawn, her twin sister said, holding up her hand. Willa gave her a high five.

“Now the killjoy has gone, let’s play!” Kai proclaimed, pumping his small fist into the air. While he was the same age as the others, he was surprisingly small for a 13 year old.

“Faye is counting first”, Morgan stated “and remember. NO powers”.

The brunette covered her eyes, turning away from the group and started to count. The other mutants took off into the woods with the half angel hot on their heels. She laughed as the teenagers whooped and hollered as they blew past the trees, the twins already hopping from one tree to the other.

Kaitlyn eventually stopped at a solid oak tree and jumped up at the nearest branch, hauling herself up. She made quick work scaling it, coming to a stop where the branches were thickest. The teenage settled down to wait and listened to Faye still counting away. “Ready or not, here I come!” she heard the brunette shout. Kaitlyn shifted a little, peering through the leaves to keep an eye out for her.

As she waited, she rubbed her temple, wincing. The prodding in her head was back. Kaitlyn cried out when it suddenly intensified. She clutched her head which turned out to be a big mistake as she toppled off the branch she had been sitting on. The teenager fell through the tree, hitting several branches on the way down. She managed to grab hold of the lowest branch before dropping to the grass with a thud. “Bloody telepathic bitch”, she groaned.

“Now that’s not very nice”, Jean said, appearing above her.

“Attacking me mentally was?” Kaitlyn retorted, surging to her feet “you’ve got serious issues lady”.

“And your my biggest issue”, Jean stated before telekinetically tossing her into another tree.

“That was a bad move Jean”, the ginger stated, pushing herself off of the bark “I wasn’t at my full strength before but I am now!” Kaitlyn lunged at the woman, striking her hard in the chest.

“Angel? What’s going on?” Faye demanded, having turned up right as she did this. The others came out of their hiding spots upon hearing the commotion.

“Your so called ‘teacher’ attacked me telepathically, again”, Kaitlyn snarled, glaring at the woman sprawled on the floor.

“Morgan, Kai get Kait back to the school”, Faye ordered “tell the professor what happened. The twins and I will stay here”. The two boys nodded and grabbed hold of the Nephilim’s hands, pulling her away from Jean and their friends.

The moment they were in sight of the school, Logan raced out to meet them. “What happened?” he asked, tugging Kaitlyn out of the boy’s grasp “are you ok?” he checked her over, noting the multitude of scratches on her face and arms, already starting to heal.

“I’m fine”, the ginger assured him “falling from a tree is not the worst thing that’s happened to me despite having a protective dad”.

“Did Jean do that to you?” Logan asked her, knowing that was most likely the answer. She wouldn’t have fallen out of the tree otherwise.

“Yeah, she did”, Kai said before Kaitlyn could answer.

“Faye, Dawn and Willa are keeping an eye on her”, Morgan added “I’m gonna let the Professor know”, he carried on toward the school “Kai! Come on!” he called and the other teen ran after him.

“We were having fun”, Kaitlyn mumbled “ _she_ had to go and ruin it” she sighed “I think it would be best if I left. I know my dad said to stay put until he got here but Jean attacked me twice! Thankfully no one else got hurt. But what if…what if one of the others gets caught in between her anger and me? Those mutants that I was playing with? They called me ‘friend’. They stuck up for me. I don’t want them getting harmed”.

“Jean isn’t going to hurt you a third time. After this I’m not letting you out of my sight”, Logan promised “and the Professor won’t let those kids get harmed either. However, if you really want to leave then I’ll go with you”.

“Logan, you can’t”, Kaitlyn stated “Jean has a problem with me, not you”.

“Doesn’t matter. I won’t stay if you don’t”, Logan told her. He had literally just found her again, there was no way he was letting her go so easily. So if she wanted to leave, then he would happily follow her. Kaitlyn didn’t know what to say to his words. Sure he had been pretty protective of her but she never imagined that he would willingly leave a place that was meant to be a haven for mutants.

“Logan I…” Kaitlyn started.

“Kaitlyn I’m not too fond of this place”, Logan gently cut in “I’d be more than happy to leave. But it’s up to you, is that what you really want?”

The teenager sighed again “I…I think it would be best”, she replied “but I’m not sure I want to go. At least not before my dad gets here”. She had friends now. A place where she wouldn’t be considered a freak.

“If that’s what you want”, Logan said.

“I don’t know what I really want”, the ginger admitted, shaking her head “I need some time to think it over”.


	8. Magneto

That night Kaitlyn tossed and turned, trying to doze off but it was proving difficult when her heightened hearing can pick up every little noise. She sat when a sound of someone having a nightmare reached her ears. The teenager got out of bed and followed it down the hall to Logan’s room. She pushed open the door to see him tossing and turning just like she was a few minutes ago.

“Logan”, she whispered, touching his shoulder, trying to rouse him from it “Logan wake up. You’re having a nightmare” as he continued to mumble and shift about, she repeated her words much louder “Logan its just a bad dream, wake up”.

What happened next was something she didn’t expect. Logan sat bolt upright with a roar, stabbing her in the shoulders with his adamantium claws. Kaitlyn screamed. The mutant’s face was one of horror when he realised what he had done. He quickly retracted his claws, lunging out of bed to grab her as she fell backward. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!” Logan yelled, carefully cradling Kaitlyn in his arms as she continued to gasp in pain “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”, he said, tears beginning to run down his face. She was the last person that he ever wanted to hurt.

“It’s ok”, the teenager gasped “I’ll heal…I’ll heal”.

“Hey, hey stay with me Kait”, Logan urged when her eyes started drift shut “please stay with me”.

“I’ll be ok”, she whispered “can’t get rid of me that easily”.

“What happened?” Ororo asked, pushing her way through the students that had gathered in the doorway.

“I-I didn’t mean to, it was an accident”, Logan said hastily, still shaken by what he’d done.

“I know”, the white haired woman said softly. She knew he would never intentionally hurt Kaitlyn, they were Mates after all. “We need to get her to the infirmary and get her patched up”, she stated.

“Yeah, ok”, Logan agreed. He stood up, gathering Kaitlyn into his arms properly and followed Ororo out.

\-------------------

Logan stayed firmly by Kaitlyn’s hand while Ororo skilfully dealt with her wounds. “That’ll stem the bleeding so her body can heal itself”, she said.

“She’s going to hate me”, Logan mumbled.

Ororo cast a glanced at him “No, she won’t”, she assured him “it was an accident”.

“I know but…”

“She won’t hate you”, Ororo repeated placing a hand on his shoulder.

“How can you be so sure?” Logan asked. Michael had loved Diana and yet he hurt her. Not physically but he hurt her nonetheless and she hated him for it. What he had done, that felt so much worse. How Ororo believed that Kaitlyn wouldn’t hate him for that, he didn’t know. He wouldn’t blame the ginger if she never wanted to see him again.

“I just know”, Ororo replied “and if you want confirmation, you can just ask her. She’s awake”. Logan glanced down to see that the woman was right, Kaitlyn was awake and looking at him. “I’ll leave you to it”, she said and left the room. Logan watched her go, not wanting her to leave.

He swallowed and looked back at Kaitlyn “Kait I…” he started.

“I don’t hate you”, Kaitlyn interrupted.

“Why not?” he asked, stepping back, letting go of her hand “I hurt you!”

“It was an accident”, the ginger reminded him, slowly pushing herself into a sitting postion, wincing as she did so. Logan also flinched at the pain she was in, feeling terrible as he was the cause. “Besides I was the one who startled you, remember? Plus I also have a healing ability”.

“I know but…”

“No but Mr”, Kaitlyn said sternly “I am fine and given a little more time I’ll be back to full strength. So don’t beat yourself up over this or I might have to kick your ass, understood?”

Logan managed to crack a small smile “yes ma’am”, he said.

“Good. Though I don’t think my dad should find out about this”, Kaitlyn remarked “he’d kill you for sure”. Logan knew it would be unlikely that her father would succeed in doing that, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

“Yeah...no telling the old man”, he teased.

Kaitlyn laughed “better not call him that when you see him, he really will kill you”, she said. The ginger laid back down, letting out a small groan. “Stop it”, she scolded, seeing the expression on his face “I _will_ kick your ass”, she threatened.

“Ok, I’ll stop”, Logan said, putting his hands up.

\-------------------

A day later, Kaitlyn was waiting in the main hall for her father to show up. “I wish you didn’t have to go”, Faye stated, she and the others deciding to keep her company.

“Faye, I can’t stay. But I’ll come back to visit”, the ginger promised “might not be for a while though, given that my dad wont want to let me out of his sight” she heard a car pull up outside “I’ll see you guys soon, I promise”. Kaitlyn picked up a small bag of things that her friends had put together for her journey home, pulled open the door and left.

“Kait!” Tony exclaimed, running up the path and hugging her tightly “I’ve missed you!” he pulled back to properly take in his daughter “are you alright? Did any of them hurt you?”

“One of them tried”, she admitted.

“Was it you?” Tony asked Logan, noticing him standing behind the teenager “did you harm my daughter?”

“Dad!” Kaitlyn protested “Logan didn’t lay a hand on me. in fact he’s been the one keeping me safe”.

“Its true. I looked out for your daughter”, Logan confirmed.

“Good otherwise I would’ve killed you”, Tony told him. Kaitlyn shot Logan a ‘told you so’ look. “Right, lets get going”, he said “Not you”, the man added when the mutant stepped forward “I’m grateful that you kept Kaitlyn safe but you can’t come along”.

“Dad, he didn’t want to stay here if I wasn’t going to”, Kaitlyn told him.

“Doesn’t matter, he’s not coming with us and that’s final”, Tony said, firmly.

The ginger turned to Logan “I’m sorry, when his mind is made up that’s it”, she said.

“Don’t apologise, I get it”, Logan said. He honestly wasn’t surprised that her father didn’t want him to come along. Though it didn’t matter, somehow he will find a way to be near her.

Kaitlyn then did something that surprised him, she gave him a hug “thanks for looking after me”, she said.

“You’re welcome”, Logan said “take care of yourself, ok?”

“I will”, Kaitlyn promised. Logan watched her get into the car with her father and Tony drove off.

\-----------

“You, know while I’m glad the X-men had saved your life, there is no way you’re setting foot in that school ever again”, Tony declared as he drove.

Kaitlyn stared at him somewhat in disbelief “You can’t be serious”, she said “Dad, I might not be a mutant but at least there I fit in. And for the first time, I had friends. Real living, breathing friends”.

“Mutants are dangerous”, Tony stated “you avoid them. You don’t make friends with them”.

“How can you say that?” Kaitlyn demanded, angrily “I’m just as dangerous! Hell, I’m probably more of a freak than they are cos at least they’re mostly human. I’m only half!” she threw open the door and jumped out, forcing Tony to stop.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Back to the school! Where I belong!” Kaitlyn shouted before starting to storm off.

“Kait you’re being ridiculous”, Tony said, following her. The ginger rounded on him.

“Oh I’m being ridiculous!” she scoffed “that’s rich coming from you. Your own daughter is a Nephilim and you’re still too narrow-minded to even believe that at least some of the mutants are good!”

Tony opened his mouth to argue when a strangely dressed man floated down. “Well, that’s humans for you”, he remarked “too fearful of the unique and special. But with your help I can change all that”.

“She’s not helping you do anything”, Tony said, firmly, pushing Kaitlyn behind him “just who the hell are you?”

“I’m Magento”, the mutant replied “I’m the one who’s going to change the world and Kaitlyn is going to help me whether she wants to or not”.

“The hell she is”, Logan growled, appearing out of nowhere.

“Ah, it’s the Wolverine”, Magneto said mockingly “your brother has told me all about you and the metal running through you”.

“Logan!” Kaitlyn shouted as he lifted up into the air by the mutant’s powers and thrown away like he was nothing. “You bastard!” she cried pushing Tony aside and blasting Magneto with golden energy “Dad, run!” she grabbed Tony’s hand and they legged it back to the car.

The pair didn’t even make it back to the vehicle when the doors where blown away from the chassis. Kaitlyn didn’t even get a chance to erect a shield when she and her father were knocked out by one of them. Magneto picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder and took off. “KAITLYN!” Logan yelled, having just managed to get back to where they were “NO!”

\-------------------

Kaitlyn was brought out of unconsciousness when she was roughly jostled around. The ginger groaned, blinking several times to try and get rid of the grogginess she felt. “I’m gonna kill Magento”, she growled “though first things first, where am I?”

The ginger looked around and found she was in some enclosed space. The bottom was flat and there were two metal poles with curved handles. It appeared to a machine of some sort, a machine that she was cuffed to. “What the hell is this thing?” she asked before it shook again making her grunt in pain as she hit the curved wall. She then remembered Magneto’s words about changing the world and her ‘helping’ him. “Oh, this must be what he’s gonna use”, she stated “Well, he’s not using me that’s for sure”.

Kaitlyn tugged the cuffs and hard as she could and they snapped. She laughed “looks like Magento knew bugger all about how to hold a Nephilim”, she said “and now to get out”. The teenager felt the walls of the thing she was trapped in. She could probably punch through it easily enough but that wouldn’t destroy the machine. _If I used enough a big enough energy blast it should work_ she thought, it might also cause her to pass out but it was the only thing she had that would both get her out AND destroyed the machine as well.

The ginger closed her eyes and focused. Golden energy wrapped around her hands. It quickly intensified the harder concentrated. Suddenly the entire thing exploded startling Magento who was currently moving the machine into place underneath the Statue of Liberty’s torch. Kaitlyn screamed as she fell, though she did manage to land a blast of energy on Magento, sending him into the river.

“Its Kait!” Tony exclaimed pointing at his daughter who was now freefalling through the sky. He’d joined the X-men purely to save his kid, nothing else. Besides there was no way he was going to stay behind even if he didn’t have any powers.

“Storm can you…?” Scott/Cyclops asked.

“On it”, the white haired woman replied and took off into the sky using her powers. She grabbed the teenager and flew back down. Ororo/Storm handed Kaitlyn to Tony.

“Dad”, the ginger whispered, tiredly “you’re with the X-men”.

“Only to come save you, that it all”, Tony said.

“Does it change your mind about them?” Kaitlyn questioned, resting her head against his chest.

Tony looked around at the X-men, specifically focusing on Logan “Yeah, I think it does”, he admitted.

“I’ll do an I told you so dance later”, Kaitlyn mumbled, her eyes closing “once I’ve slept for a week or more”.

\------------------------

It was a good few hours later when the X-men’s aircraft touched down close to the Stark home in Malibu. Tony walked down the ramp first, followed by both Kaitlyn and Logan. “I knew that story”, the ginger said to the mutant “the one about the moon and her lover”.

“You’ve heard it before?” Logan asked, wondering if that meant some part of her life as Diana…and yes he was sure that’s who she used to be though he didn’t know how it was possible. Reincarnation perhaps? Sounded a little far fetched but then again he’d been around for a very, very long time.

“Yeah I don’t know where I could’ve heard it from but I’m pretty sure someone once told me that story”, Kaitlyn replied. She looked at the place that was her home for the last 13 years “God I’ve missed that place”, she remarked.

“Looks roomy”, Logan commented and she laughed.

“Honestly, its much more space that we’ll ever need”, Kaitlyn admitted “I’d be just as happy with a little two story home in the suburbs but Dad just wants the best for me”.

“That’s what all father’s want for their daughters”, Logan agreed. They stood there in silence before Kaitlyn spoke up.

“Well, I guess this is it. At least for a while. Thank you for everything Logan. For looking out for me…for protecting me”.

“You’re welcome”, Logan said “hey, wait!” he called as she started to walk towards her father.

“What is it?” Kaitlyn asked going back to him.

Logan took off his dog tags and held them out to her “I want you to look after these for me”, he said.

“Your dog tags? But why?” Kaitlyn questioned, taking them.

“It’ll give me a reason to visit”, Logan answered.

“You’d visit just to get your tags back?” the ginger queried “I’m hurt Logan”.

“I wouldn’t be stopping by to get them back, not for a while at least. I’ll just want to know that they’re in good hands”, Logan said “which I know they are”.

“So…its just the tags you’ll coming to see then?” Kaitlyn asked, tiny bit disappointed.

“No, I’ll be coming to see you too”, Logan replied “as long as your dad doesn’t mind”.

“Well, I want to see you again so he’s just gonna deal with it”, Kaitlyn stated, making chuckle. She looped the dog tags around her neck. “I’ll look after them”, she promised.

“I know you will”


	9. 5 years later...

**AN: Now we're onto the Iron Man portion of the story.**

18 year old Kaitlyn stood at the edge of the mat. She took a deep breath before launching herself into a routine of flips, cartwheels and handsprings. “How are that JARVIS?” she asked the house’s AI.

**_Perfect form as always_ **

The ginger laughed “oh come now, JARVIS. There’s no such thing as perfect”, she told him.

**_Your father would say otherwise. Especially when it comes to you_ **

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. Tony would always proclaim that she was perfect. She was about to go into another routine when the computer spoke again.

**_Speaking of your father. He wants you to go with him_ **

“To that weapons testing? No bloody way”, Kaitlyn said firmly “and you can tell him that”. Much to her dismay, Tony had fallen back into the business of manufacturing weapons after two and a half years of staying away from it all.

**_I tried to tell him that you were highly against joining him in Kabul but he was insistent_ **

“Well, you can tell him again that I am not interested”, Kaitlyn said firmly. She went back to what she was doing for a few more minutes when Happy Hogan showed up. “I’m not going”, she stated, hoping up onto the vaulting horse and going into a handstand.

“Figured you would say that but your father wants you to be there to support him”, Happy said.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Kaitlyn asked turning up the right way and staring at him with a raised brow “I never supported him before Logan’s crazy brother tried to kill me 5 years ago and I’m not about to start now”.

Happy sighed “I understand how you feel, I really do but Tony…”

“I don’t care!” Kaitlyn shouted jumping off the vaulting horse, glaring at the man “I am not going into a warzone to rub elbows with government and military stooges and cheer on some weapon my dad created!”

“Kait, I get it but Tony told me to let you know that if you went with him just this once that he would help get that kids shelter of yours up and running”, Happy informed her.

“Son of a bitch”, Kaitlyn cursed under her breath. That was a rather low blow of her dad using the shelter like that, he _knew_ how important it was to her. “Fine, I’ll go”, she grumbled. As loathed as she is to admit it, she did need help if she wanted to get it open on the date that she wanted to.

\-----------------

Kaitlyn watched her father move to the front of the crowd of generals and military officials, shaking her head disapprovingly. Yes, she had agreed to come but that didn’t mean she was going to join in the celebrations when the weapon was a success. 

“Is it better to be feared or respected?” Tony asked rhetorically “I say, is it too much to ask for both?” _Yes dad, it IS too much to ask for both_ Kaitlyn thought to herself _I’d rather be respected than feared_. “With that in mind I humbly represent the crown jewel of the Stark Industries Freedom Line. It’s the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire _once_. That’s how dad did it. That’s how America does it. And its worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won’t even come out of their caves” he gestured to one of the soldiers that was remotely controlling the weapon that was about to be tested. They all watched one of the missiles fire into the air before breaking off into several smaller missiles “for your consideration, the Jericho”. The mini weapons rained down on the mountainside, causing multiple explosions. The shockwave swept over the area bringing a big gust of dust causing them all to shield their faces.

As soon as the dust settled, Kaitlyn headed over to one of the Humvees. She didn’t want to stick around any longer than she had to. “Miss Stark?” a male voice spoke up. Kaitlyn turned to see a solider in his 30’s standing there. “Sorry to bother you ma’am but I was wondering if it would be ok to get a picture with you? It’s for my daughter, she’s a big fan of yours”, he explained.

“Of course”, Kaitlyn said. She moved to stand next to him and smiled while he snapped a selfie with his digital camera.

“This is really gonna make her day”, the solider said happily “because of you, Emily wants to look after marine animals when she grows up”.

The ginger felt a surge of pride at the fact that she’d inspired someone, a daughter of a solider no less. Kaitlyn fished in her bag for her notepad and pen and pulled them out. She flipped to a clean page and wrote a quick note.

_Dear Emily_

_The turtles and dolphins would be lucky to have an amazing girl such as yourself looking after them_

_Lots of love_

_Kaitlyn Stark_

_XX_

She tore the page off and gave it to the solider who smiled at the note. “Thank you”, he said sincerely.

“You’re welcome”, Kaitlyn said. She then jotted some information onto another piece of paper “here’s my email. If your daughter is really interested in that kind of career, she can get in touch. I’ve got some contacts in that area so it’ll be no problem to arrange an internship or something”.

“I…don’t know what to say”, the solider admitted, touched that she’d written a note to his baby girl AND even offering to help with his daughter’s career.

“No need to say anything”, Kaitlyn said “I’m always willing to help”.

“Kait! We gotta go!” Tony hollered from the inside of one of the Humvees.

“Be right there!” Kaitlyn called back “I’ve got to go but it was a pleasure meeting you…”

“Captain Henry Maddox”, the man supplied, holding his hand out.

“It was a pleasure meeting you Captain Maddox”, Kaitlyn said, shaking it “I look forward to hearing from you and your daughter” and with that she headed back over to the Humvee that she’d been standing by prior to getting asked for a picture by Captain Maddox. She got into it and closed the door.

What happened about 20 minutes later was what Kaitlyn would describe as utter chaos. There were explosions and gunfire. Soldiers shouting orders at one another. Kaitlyn flung open the door to the Humvee and got out, flinching when she heard bullets striking the vehicle. “Dad”, she breathed seeing him make a break for some rocks. Kaitlyn started to follow after him when all of a sudden she was thrown backward by the force of a nearby explosion. The ginger scrambled to her feet and hurried over, gasping when she saw her father lying on the ground, pools of blood appearing through his shirt. “Daddy!” she cried falling to the floor next to him, taking hold of his hand “you’re gonna be ok. Just stay with me”, she pleaded.

“Honey…run…” Tony whispered, feeling his eyelids grow heavy.

Kaitlyn shook her head “I’m not leaving you”, she said adamantly “you drive me crazy but you’re all I have and I would never abandon you. Never”.

“I love you Kait”, Tony managed to say, his daughter’s tear streaked face being the last thing he saw before he succumbed to the pain, blacking out.

\------------

At Xavier’s school, Logan almost keeled over from the sheer terror that he felt. “Kait”, he breathed. Over the last 5 years he’d gotten closer to her and their bond had grown to the point where he could feel her emotions. Well, not all of them. Just the extreme ones and right now she was very scared. And he didn’t like it.

The mutant took out his phone and called her, growling when he got her voicemail. He needed to find out where she was right now. Charles. He needed to talk to Charles. With that in mind, he ran to his office. “Kait’s in trouble”, Logan said as he burst into his office.

That had the telepath go down to the lower levels to where Cerebro was housed. Charles had used it a couple of times before to find the Nephilim but it was not without difficulty with her unique status. The device could easily detect mutants and humans alike but half-angels it had a problem with.

Logan shifted about anxiously as Charles put the helmet on, his hand fiddling with the angel wing pendant around his neck. Kaitlyn had given it to him saying pretty much the same words as he said when he gave her his dog tags. Unfortunately in the 5 years she’d been gone, she had never once come back to the school. It wasn’t her idea though, it was her father’s.

Logan’s hand gripped tighter on the pendant. Tony was more than happy to have him come to visit, though very briefly at their house, he was pretty firm in his resolve about her never going back to the school. His dumbass views on mutants was what was making him so stubborn. It was a shame because Kaitlyn had bonded really well with a handful of students. A handful of students whom he was very aware snuck off to head to Malibu to see her on more than one occasion.

“I can’t find her”, Charles said, cutting through his thoughts.

“How is that possible? You’ve found her before”, Logan said, his concern for his Mate rising.

“I know but…” the telepath sighed “she’s just not showing up. I’m sorry”.

Logan clenched his jaw to stop the outburst that was about to come. Charles didn’t deserve his anger, not when he was trying to help. Instead he opted to storm out and head to Danger Room to work it out on some fake enemies.

\---------

Kaitlyn’s knee jiggled up and down, Logan’s dog tags in her hands, fiddling with it as she watched over her unconscious father. The operation to remove the pieces of shrapnel had been touch and go for a while but more or less a success. The only problem was that there were still some shards that they couldn’t remove from his chest without killing him so Yinsen, a fellow prisoner cobbled together an electromagnet to prevent the shrapnel from going into his heart. The man had warned her that even though the device was keeping him alive, there was a high chance that Tony could still die within the week.

It hurt the ginger knowing that she could very well lose her father in seven days or less. She wished there was something she could do to extend that time. Unfortunately not even her gift of healing could save him as there was a very high risk that she’d end up killing him instead. She bit her lip, suppressing her sobs as tears appeared in her eyes. She hated feeling helpless! She hated not being able to do anything to save him! She’d actually wished that Logan would plough through the doors, ripping these bastards to shreds. It was no more than they deserved.

Yinsen placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. He understood a daughter’s love for her father for he once had a daughter of his own before she was cruelly taken from him. “Your father will pull through”, he said gently.

“How do you know?” Kaitlyn asked, her voice trembling, tears slowly rolling down her face.

“He’s got something to fight for…to live for”, Yinsen answered. Kaitlyn nodded, knowing that he was talking about her being that something. She wiped away the tears with palm of her hand.

“And I will fight for him too”, she said with as much confidence as she could muster “nobody is taking my dad away from me. Not without a fight”. 

“Keep that thought in your mind during these next few days”, Yinsen suggested.

“10-4 Yinsen”, Kaitlyn said. Yinsen removed his hand from her shoulder and went over to a table to start preparing food for the extra two guests. Just then Tony gasped awake, Kaitlyn at his side in a flash.

“K-Kait”, he rasped, staring up at his daughter. He reached up toward her face, his eyes widening when his fingers came into contact with skin. “I’m…not dead?” he said, it coming out more of a question than a statement.

Kaitlyn shook her head “no, you’re not dead. You’re very much alive thanks to Yinsen”, she pointed over to the foreign man, Tony following her gaze. He then tried to sit up, Kaitlyn quickly stopping him. “You shouldn’t move too much”, she warned glancing over at the car battery that he was currently hooked up to. Tony glanced over at it too, following the wires down to his chest. Kaitlyn watched him tear off the bandages and stare horrified at the device implanted in his chest. “It’s an electromagnet. Yinsen had to put it in you to stop some of the shrapnel from making its way into your heart”, Kaitlyn explained, her voice cracking at the end.

Tony pushed himself up as much as he could without jolting the battery which was too far for him to reach, pressing his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “It’s gonna be ok”, he whispered, feeling splashes on his face where some of Kaitlyn’s tears had fallen.

Suddenly a hatch in the large metal door slid open with a loud clang making father and daughter break apart. A male voice spoke in a language that Kaitlyn and Tony couldn’t understand but it seemed that Yinsen did as he came over to them, moving the battery to Tony’s side. “Just do as I do”, he told them both before helping Tony up “put your hands up”, Yinsen instructed as the doors were pulled open. Tony and Kaitlyn didn’t hesitate for a moment doing as he said.

Several people in camouflage walked in, led by a heavy set bearded man. Kaitlyn frowned at the weapons they were carrying. They were Stark issue. Tony had noticed the same and said quietly “those are my guns. How did they get my guns?”

“Do you understand me? Do as I do”, Yinsen repeated, effectively shutting up Tony at least for the moment. The bearded man stopped in front of the trio and began to speak, his words being lost on both Tony and Kaitlyn. That is until Yinsen translated for them.

“He says ‘welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America. And Kaitlyn Stark, the guardian angel to those in need’” the man, Abu Bakar, showed them a picture of the Jericho missile “’he wants you to build the missile’”, Yinsen said continuing to translate. Tony looked at the picture of the weapon he’d demonstrated and then at Bakar.

“I refuse”, he said firmly. His answer had both himself and Kaitlyn dragged to a container of cold water where the teenager’s head shoved underneath. Kaitlyn thrashed against the many hands holding her down as she unintentionally swallowed water. She could’ve thrown them off if she was at full strength but she currently wasn’t due to having fought their captors in a desperate attempt to protect her father which resulted in her being beaten until knocked out and then Yinsen having drugged her to stop her from interfering with Tony’s operation.

They kept her down for only a few seconds until… “alright stop!” Tony shouted “I’ll do it”. The men yanked Kaitlyn upright, the teenager coughing up lungful’s of water as she gasped for air. 

She didn’t have time to recover before a canvas bag was shoved over her head and was roughly ushered somewhere else. 

\-------------

Logan dropped to his knees overwhelmed by the sheer panic Kaitlyn was feeling. His hands curled into fists as his entire body trembled with rage. When he gets his hands on whomever or whatever was making her so scared, he’ll tear them apart!


	10. Ten Rings

Kaitlyn blinked several times when the bag was finally pulled off her head, exposing her eyes to the sunlight. Having been in a cave lit only by electric light, the sunlight was almost blinding. She and Tony didn’t have much time to be accustomed to it when they were pushed forward, Kaitlyn grabbing her father’s arm when he stumbled. She walked with him down the path, eyeing the massive amount of ordinates owned by Stark Industries.

Abu Bakar spoke, Yinsen not needing any urging to translate “He wants to know what you think”.

“I think you got a lot of my weapons”, Tony calmly replied.

The Arabic man spoke again “He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile. He wants you to make the list of materials and you’ll start working immediately. Once you’re done he will set you and your daughter free”, Yinsen translated verbatim.

Tony and Kaitlyn exchanged looks. They both knew the man was lying. He would never let them go even if he did comply. However, Tony shook Abu Bakar’s hand in agreement, his mind already working on an escape plan.

He and Kaitlyn may not agree on a lot of things but he be damned if he was going to let his little girl die in these godforsaken mountains. To pull it off, he was going to need a lot more than a week so he was going to need a much better device than the one currently keeping him alive. Perhaps a mini arc reactor?

\--------------------

The next few days were a flurry of activity with men coming and going with tools, equipment materials…including a number of missiles. Tony directed them to where he wanted them to be, Yinsen doing his best to translate the American’s orders. Kaitlyn did what she could to help, avoiding lifting the heavier objects as to not give away the fact that she was far stronger than she looks. And it had been coming back to her, slowly which delighted the ginger to no end. Once everything had been set up the way Tony wanted, he got to work with creating his mini arc reactor. Kaitlyn had a fair bit of input too, in fact she’d given him the answer to a little problem he was having through a small doodle on his design. Weapons she had an issue with but the Arc Reactor? She liked that as it was a potential way to produce energy in a much more cleaner and sustainable way. Kaitlyn had often wished that her dad delve into that aspect more and in a way he kinda was by making it smaller to replace the electromagnet in his chest.

\------------

One day after they had breakfast or as Kaitlyn liked to call it, a bowl of slop, they got to work on breaking down the missiles. Neither one of them had told Yinsen what they were doing in case he was interrogated over the work. They didn’t want him to get into trouble for concealing anything from their captors.

“How many languages do you speak?” Tony asked watching Kaitlyn carefully unscrew the bolts one of the missiles.

“A lot”, Yinsen replied “but not enough for this place. They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian”.

“Get a few more people speaking other languages and they could do a bad guy’s version of _Its A Small World_ ”, Kaitlyn joked, undoing the last screw.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to pitch it to them”, Tony said, taking over by removing the cap “I don’t think these people have any sense of humour” he pulled out the inner workings of the missile, setting it onto the table.

“Probably right dad”, Kaitlyn agreed “who ARE our oh so lovely hosts then?” she asked Yinsen.

“They are your father’s loyal customers”, Yinsen answered “they call themselves the Ten Rings”. Kaitlyn just about stopped herself from making a remark about the Christmas song.

“Kait start getting the palladium from the other missiles”, Tony instructed. The ginger nodded and went over to the workbench, picking up an electric drill before going over to the nearest missile. Tony did the same, Yinsen following him.

“You know, we might be more productive if you and Kaitlyn were to include me in the planning process”, the man commented.

“Uh huh”, Tony said pulling off the cap from the missile and getting out the chip rack cylinder. He went over to one of the work table and carefully extracting the palladium from it.

“Is that palladium?” Yinsen asked, surmising that this was what Tony wanted his daughter to get from the other missiles.

“It is”, Tony confirmed “this is about 0.15 grams and we need at least 1.6 so go help Kait break down the other 11”. Yinsen nodded and got to work. While he and Kaitlyn were removing the palladium, Tony got to work on the rest of the mini arc reactor. Soon the 1.6 grams of metal was being melted down and carefully poured onto the thin metal ring. Kaitlyn and Yinsen watched Tony put together the mini arc reactor. The ginger held her breath as her father powered it up, fingers crossed that it was going to work. The science and the math was sound but that didn’t mean that something couldn’t go wrong with it.

“Yes”, Kaitlyn breathed, utterly relieved that the device powered up and stayed on. Tony glanced at his daughter, seeing the look of relief on her face. He too was glad it worked. This meant he didn’t have to rely on the car battery anymore. It also meant that he’d just bought them the time they needed to build the suit he was going to use to get them out of their prison.

Yinsen frowned at the mini arc reactor.

“That doesn’t look like a Jericho missile”, he stated.

“That’s because it’s not. It’s a miniaturised arc reactor”, Kaitlyn answered giving her father’s shoulder a happy squeeze “there’s a much large one powering the factory back home”.

“And it should keep the shrapnel out of my heart”, Tony added.

“What could it generate?” Yinsen questioned.

“Well, if my math is right, three gigajoules per second”, Tony replied.

“That could warm your heart for 50 lifetimes”, Yinsen stated.

“Or something big for 15 minutes”, Tony countered. He then showed Yinsen and his teenaged daughter the plans he’d made. It was something that he’d began to consider 5 years ago after Kaitlyn had been taken by Magneto and he’d been helpless to do anything.

The ginger stared at the drawings. She hated to admit it, it was might impressive and if they were able to build it with the stuff they had, it would definitely be their ticket out of this hell hole.

Before they could get started on Tony’s new project, there was the matter of replacing the electromagnet with the arc reactor. Kaitlyn sat by Tony, holding onto his hand to give him some assurance while Yinsen worked quickly to expertly remove the electromagnet and place the arc reactor in its place. The foreign man stepped back when he was done and the ginger helped her father sit up. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Much better”, Tony replied “Now let’s get to work”.

Meanwhile, Logan had made his way to Malibu where he learned from a very upset Pepper Potts the horrifying truth about what was making Kaitlyn so scared. She and Tony had been kidnapped! While they were in Kabul no less. He hadn’t had the privilege to fight in a war over there but he was very aware that it wasn’t the saftest place for an 18 year old girl to be. Especially _his_ girl!

Tony’s business partner, Obadiah Stane was also present while he’d been talking to Pepper. Even though the man had assured him that they were doing everything they could to find the missing Stark’s and bring them safely home, Logan couldn’t help get the feeling that he was hiding something. The guy sounded sincere but it wasn’t quite genuine compared to Pepper’s worry for her boss and his daughter.

Logan decided to let it slide for the moment as he was more concerned for his Mate. However, the moment she was home and safe, he was going to have a talk with Stane. If it turned out that he had something to do with Kaitlyn being taken…he was going to have an early grave.

\------------

~Kabul~

Days turned into weeks. Weeks became months. And every waking hour was spent working on Tony’s suit. Kaitlyn helped with some of the metal work, discretely bending some of the tougher pieces into place but primarily she stuck to the more intricate work given that she had the smallest hands out of the three of them. She, Tony and Yinsen worked at a steady yet comfortable pace to get the suit done.

Then one day they were forced to work harder when Yinsen was threatened by Raza, the leader of the Ten Rings. He gave them a deadline of 24 hours before he left the room. So Tony, Kaitlyn and Yinsen worked through the night and into the early hours of the morning until the suit was finally ready.

While Tony got himself into it with Yinsen’s help, Kaitlyn got busy rigging the door with explosives. “Kait come over here. I need you to initialise the start-up sequence”, Tony said when his daughter had just finished setting the charges. The ginger went over to the screen.

“Ok, I’m ready”, Kaitlyn said, fingers poised over the keyboard. Before Tony could tell her, the hatch in the door slid back. A man spoke but all Kaitlyn and Tony could understand was their names. “Yinsen say something”, Kaitlyn hissed out of the corner of mouth as she face the door, casually leaning on the table.

“He’s speaking Hungarian! I don’t know Hungarian”, Yinsen told her and Tony quietly, slightly flustered as he was trying to secure Tony into the suit.

“Just say something”, Tony urged. Yinsen huffed but shouted something back to the man. It seemed whatever he had said, the man at the door didn’t seem to buy as he proceeded to open the door only for it the explode outward.

“Holy shit”, Kaitlyn cursed.

“I take it that it worked”, Tony stated.

“You can say that again”, Kaitlyn said “but now we’ve got even less time cos that’s gonna bring even more people here” she turned back to the screen “how do we start it up?”

“Function 11” Kaitlyn hit the button and a progress bar appeared on the screen.

“Ok, we got a progress bar”, she reported.

“Now press Control and I then hit enter”, Tony instructed. Kaitlyn did as he said and saw the progress bar slowly filling up with green.

“It’s started”, she told her father. Kaitlyn turned to watch Yinsen drilling in the remaining bolts as quickly as he can. It wasn’t long before they heard people shouting and running up the passage towards the room. “They’re gonna be here before you’re fully powered up”, Kaitlyn warned eyeing the progress bar as it moved far too slowly for her liking.

“I’ll buy you two some time”, Yinsen said.

“Yinsen, no. We stick to the plan”, Kaitlyn said quickly but the man just ignored her, hurrying over to the doorway and picking up one of the fallen insurgent’s weapons.

“Yinsen!” Kaitlyn and Tony shouted together as he disappeared along the passage, firing the gun. The ginger wanted to go after him but she couldn’t leave her father vulnerable. So she turned back to the screen, eyeing the bar nervously.

“Come on. Come on”, she urged as it crawled along.

“What’s it at?” Tony asked.

“60”, Kaitlyn replied.

“Ok, come over here”, Tony ordered. Kaitlyn did as he said, grasping his leather gloved hand “when the lights go out, stay close to me”, he said and the teenager nodded. Father and daughter watched the progress bar creep closer and closer toward 100% until finally it got there. Tony gave Kaitlyn’s hand a squeeze before he let go, the lights going out, plunging the pair into darkness save for the light being emitted from the mini arc reactor in Tony’s chest. Kaitlyn wasn’t too worried about the dark having heightened senses that allowed her to see with the lights out.

The ginger sank low to the ground, sticking close to the rig that held Tony’s suit, as a few insurgents entered. She watched her father make short work of the three that had come into the room, creating a shield to protect herself from any of the stray bullets that got a little too close to her as they ricocheted off of Tony’s metal suit and other objects in the room.

“Kait, let’s go”, Tony said and she darted out of her hiding place to join him at the doorway “stay behind me”, he told her and she gave him a nod to say she understood. Though she had powers that she could use to protect herself, thanks to her angel heritage, she was by no means invincible. And Tony would never forgive himself if she got hurt so she decided to do as he said and stay behind him.

He walked swiftly forward, Kaitlyn sticking as close to him as possible, deflecting the bullets that would possibly hit her as he father took on more insurgents. Kaitlyn hung back while Tony bashed down two thick metal doors which it didn’t take him long to do. He swung his arm, hitting knocking an insurgent to the ground. Unfortunately he got his arm stuck in the rock wall. As he was trying to free it, another insurgent took the opportunity to walk up to him and attempt to put a bullet in his head. And by attempt…well lets just say he didn’t get very far as Kaitlyn intervened, shoving him backward, hard. He hit the rock wall and crumpled to the ground. She then freed Tony’s metal arm from where it was stuck in the wall.

“Thanks Kait”, Tony said and they continued on. As they neared the entrance of the caves, Raza was waiting for them with an RPG. When they came into view, he fired. Kaitlyn acting quickly, stepped out from behind her father and threw up a shield. The rocket exploded on impact, throwing Kaitlyn back into Tony who barely moved in his metal suit. He pushed her behind him and retaliated with a small missile of his own. The projectile hit the wall near Raza, some of the burning debris catching the man across the face. He cried out, falling to the floor.

“Yinsen!” Kaitlyn exclaimed having spotted their fellow prisoner, slumped over in a corner. He wasn’t moving. She rushed over to him and felt for a pulse. Kaitlyn’s eyes closed when she couldn’t find one. He was dead. The teen looked up at her father, eyes shining with tears for their fallen friend. No words were necessary to convey what had happened.

“We gotta go”, Tony told her, doing his best to remain calm even though he was furious.

Kaitlyn nodded “yeah”, she sniffled, wiping away a few tears “you’re in a better place now Yinsen”, she murmured quietly, standing up. In an ideal world she would want to take his body back to wherever he came from so that he could be buried by his people. But they were in the middle of a hostile area so all she and her father could was leave him behind. However, Kaitlyn was going to make sure that Yinsen was not going to be forgotten, that his death wasn’t going to be in vain.

Tony strode out of the cave, a single thought in his mind. Destroy his weapons and get his daughter out of this godforsaken place. Kaitlyn placed a hand on his back and stretched out her other, projecting a shield in front of her father as the insurgents opened fire. The bullets bounced off the barrier, leaving Tony and Kaitlyn unharmed.

“My turn”, Tony said when they ran out of bullets in their guns. Kaitlyn dropped her shield allowing him to use his twin flamethrowers on any and all things in sight. Insurgents and his weapons went up in flames. “Hang on”, Tony said to Kaitlyn who quickly grabbed onto the back of his suit tightly. He activated the jets that were attached to his legs and they took off into the sky. Kaitlyn glanced down, watching the entire cache of weapons go up in one big fireball. _That’s one bloody big explosion_ she thought _nothing would survive that_.

The pair soared higher into the sky before the jets suddenly sputtered several times before giving out. Kaitlyn and Tony free-fell through the sky, bits of Tony’s suit flying everywhere, several pieces catching Kaitlyn’s face and arms. Father and teenaged daughter landed on the sand with a thud.

Kaitlyn coughed and spluttered, spitting out sand that had gotten into her mouth as she struggled to her feet. She stumbled over to Tony and helped him out of the remnants of his suit. She then yanked him easily out of the sand and the two of them started to walk.

It soon became clear that they’d literally come out of the frying pan and into the fire as the sun beat relentlessly down on them as they walked. Exposed skin dotted with burns, heads swathed in their jackets, throats parched…begging for water and still they pushed on. Eventually they got to the point where Kaitlyn was all but holding her father upright, though she could feel her legs were about to go any second.

And then they heard a wonderful sound of a helicopter. Big, tired grins appeared on their faces as not one but _two_ went overhead. They were safe at last! Tony and Kaitlyn collapsed onto the sand, leaning on one another as one of the helicopters touched down. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, rushed up to the pair, dropping down onto the sand in front of them. “Next time you both ride with me, ok?” he said. Tony and Kaitlyn didn’t say anything, they were both too exhausted from the ordeal. Rhodey hugged his best friend and niece, overjoyed that they’d been found at last. “There’s actually someone else with me”, Rhodey said “showed up at the base out of the blue, very insistent that he join the search”.

Kaitlyn peered over his shoulder and her eyes widened at what she saw. It was Logan! Feeling a sudden surge of energy, she manged to get to her feet and stumbled over to him. “I gotcha”, the mutant said when she all but fell into his arms, passing out from exhaustion and dehydration “and I’m never letting you go again”, he whispered, picking her up bridal style.


	11. Tony's Annoucement

The next thing Kaitlyn knew, she was waking up in a hospital bed and Tony was nowhere in sight. “Dad”, the ginger said sitting bolt upright. She tried to get out of the bed when a pair of hands stopped her.

“Take it easy Kait”, a familiar voice said. Kaitlyn looked up to see Logan standing there.

“Logan”, she breathed “I thought I was seeing things before. Its really you?”

“Yes, its me”, the mutant confirmed.

“Thank god”, Kaitlyn said “where are we? And where’s dad?”

“You’re at the army base”, Logan replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed “Tony is fine. The doctors are just checking him out, making sure he’s ok. You’re both really lucky to be alive. And I’m sorry…”

The ginger frowned “sorry? for what?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t find you two sooner”, Logan replied. He felt really terrible that it had taken ages to find them…to find her. He didn’t know what was worse, Kaitlyn and Tony being rescued from the desert, sunburned and dehydrated or the pair of them being trapped in a cell somewhere.

“Its not your fault”, Kaitlyn said, softly, resting her head on his shoulder “I’m just glad that you and Rhodey found us when you did”.

“Me too”, Logan said.

\-----------------

Several days later, saw Kaitlyn, Tony, Logan and Rhodey flying back to America in a C-17. As the ramp slowly descended, the half angel stood up, assisted by Logan while her father was supported by his best friend.

When Tony noticed the gurney’s that were waiting for himself and Kaitlyn, he had them sent away. He didn’t know about his daughter but he’d enough of lying around being poked and prodded by doctors. “Pepper!” Kaitlyn cried happily, seeing the older ginger. The woman had been like a mother to her.

“Kait”, Pepper greeted, with a smile, tears in her eyes at the sight of her boss and his daughter.

“Those better be tears of joy Pepper”, the teenager remarked.

“Yes, they are”, the woman assured her “Logan, can you let me go so I can give her a hug please?” the mutant complied and Pepper swept Kaitlyn up into a massive hug “I’m so glad you and Tony are safe”.

“Me too”, Kaitlyn agreed. Just then Tony walked up.

“Mr Stark”, Pepper greeted professionally though she was just as happy to see him as she was with Kaitlyn.

“Miss Potts”, Tony greeted back “A few tears for the long lost boss?” he commented.

“Kait said something similar”, Pepper told him.

“They’re…” Kaitlyn trailed off, seeing the mutants she’d befriended so long ago “guys!” the ginger moved around Pepper, running over to them.

“Angel!” the mutants chorused, surrounding the Nephilim before giving her a big group hug.

“I’ve missed you guys”, Kaitlyn proclaimed “and Kai…you’ve gotten so tall!”

The Asian teenager laughed “and you’ve gotten far prettier over the years”, he stated, tugging Kaitlyn out of the group hug and slinging his arm around her shoulders “a true angel” the ginger blushed at his compliment “wanna go out sometime?”

That had Logan giving a low warning growl at him. “Relax Logan, you know he’s aware that Kait is your Mate”, Dawn said quietly to him “he wont try anything”.

“He better not”, Logan muttered.

“Kait, honey we gotta go!” Tony called.

“I’ll see you guys later, ok?” Kaitlyn said to her friends “swing by the house and we can have a proper catch up”.

“Don’t you get any ideas”, Logan said to Kai as he passed, giving the teen a glare. He and Kaitlyn got into the black car that the Stark family bodyguard, Happy Hogan, was standing beside.

“Where to, sir?” Happy asked, after getting into the vehicle.

“Take us to the hospital please Happy”, Pepper answered.

“We’re not going to the hospital Pepper”, Kaitlyn said firmly “I don’t know about you, dad, but I’ve frankly had enough of hospitals and doctor’s. And now I could kill for a cheese burger”.

“You and me both”, Tony agreed “Happy, cheese burger” he glanced at Pepper “and I’d like to call a press conference”.

“A press conference?” Pepper repeated.

“Why do you want one of those?” Kaitlyn questioned, equally confused.

“You’ll see”, Tony replied. Kaitlyn glanced over at Pepper wondering what her thoughts were but she was already on the phone.

By the time they’d reached Stark Industries for the press conference, Kaitlyn had finished her burger which she’d thoroughly enjoyed. It was the best food she had in three months. Which wasn’t hard considering they were forced to eat slop in the caves and the base food wasn’t that much better, though at least that was edible. Plus…she was allowed to have that Jell-O that always seemed to be served in hospitals, which she secretly liked.

When the Stark’s got out of the car, they were met by the applause of Stark Industries employees Obadiah Stane. Logan eyed the man as he hugged Tony. “You ok?” Kaitlyn asked him quietly as Stane led her father into the building, the rest of them following.

“I’m fine”, Logan answered. The Nephilim raised a brow but didn’t press the issue. Something about Tony’s partner/ mentor was bothering the mutant, that much she could tell.

When they got into the press room, the Stark’s were met with tons of reporters and cameras. Obadiah immediately went to the front where a podium was set up, Tony and Kaitlyn following. Pepper stopped Logan from doing the same. “This is just for Tony and Kait”, she told him.

Obadiah open his mouth to speak when he was surprised when Tony sat down on the floor in front of the podium with his daughter. “Would it be alright if everyone sat down?” Tony asked “that way I can see you…and it’s a little less formal…”

The reporters sat down, ready to hear what Tony had to say. Obadiah joined Tony and Kaitlyn on the floor in front of the podium. “I never got to say goodbye to my father”, Tony said and Kaitlyn took his hand knowing the subject of Howard was pretty sensitive for her dad “there were questions I would’ve asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts…”

 _Where is this going?_ Kaitlyn thought.

“…Or maybe he was every inch the man that we all remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend and protect them. I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability” Tony glanced at Kaitlyn “And that almost cost me the most precious thing in my life, my daughter”.

“Mr and Miss Stark!” a young male reporter spoke up. Kaitlyn recognised him as Ben Johnston, an up and comer in the reporting world. He had good instincts and didn’t always focus on the models that her father was dating, unlike some reporters.

“Hey Ben!” she greeted cheerfully.

“What happened over there?” Ben asked.

Tony stood up, pulling Kaitlyn to her feet as well as he was still holding onto her hand. He walked around the podium, letting go of her hand “I had my eyes opened. I came to realise that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that’s why effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such time I can decide what the future of this company will be”.

That had everyone in the room in a bit of an uproar, asking questions and talking over one another, demanding answers to that shocking statement. Kaitlyn could only stare at her father, equal measures shocked and happy. For so long she had wanted him to do something besides making weapons and it appears he was having a change of heart. She only wished that they hadn’t been held captive for 3 months in that hellhole for him to change.

\--------------

As soon as Kaitlyn and Tony stepped through the door of Stark Mansion, they were greeted by the home’s AI, JARVIS.

**_Welcome home Mr Stark, Miss Stark. Hello again Mr Logan._ **

“Glad to be back Jarvis”, Kaitlyn said.

Tony turned to Logan “You can go now”, he said.

“But dad…” Kaitlyn started.

“No, Kait”, Tony interrupted “Logan I appreciate you helping Rhodey to find us but its time for you to go”.

Logan wanted to argue but seeing that he wasn’t going to be swayed, he agreed to leave. “Logan, wait!” the teenaged half angel called, running after him “I wish you didn’t have to leave”.

“I don’t want to go either”, he admits “but your dad doesn’t want me to stay and with what you’ve guys been through, its best not to push it”.

“Will I see you soon?” Kaitlyn asked, hopeful.

“Of course”, Logan promised “I want to see you again as well”.

“Great!” Kaitlyn said with a smile “oh and by the way” she kissed his cheek, surprising him “thank you for saving me. Not just from the desert but from your half-brother too”.

“You’re welcome”, Logan said “I’ll see you soon”. Kaitlyn watched him leave before she closed the door behind him and went back to join her father.

“I think I’m gonna go change”, she told him, plucking at her borrowed jacket “I want something that fits a little better than this”. She started towards the stairs when Tony said

“Once you’re done, meet me in my workshop” Kaitlyn turned to her father “and bring the notebooks on those ongoing projects of yours”.

“You’re really being serious. You want to do something other making weapons”, the ginger said.

Tony nodded “I do. You had the right idea all along”, he admitted “I just wish it didn’t take us being held hostage by the Ten Rings for three months for me to realise it. I’m so sorry, Kait”.

Kaitlyn went over to her father and hugged him “no apology necessary daddy. It’s not your fault we got kidnapped by those people”, she said and moved back “and we will get past this, together”. Kaitlyn lightly squeezed his arm before she darted off upstairs.

The ginger stopped in the doorway of her bedroom, taking in the place she hadn’t seen in three months. It was pretty clean, cleaner than it should’ve been considering she hadn’t been around to do it. _Pepper must’ve had someone around to do the housekeeping_ Kaitlyn thought moving into the room. She went over to her shelves where she had several file boxes on the different projects she’d done for charities both complete and incomplete. She considered a couple of the incomplete projects before she selected the red file box marked ‘Save the Children’. Kaitlyn removed it from the shelf and set it onto her desk.

She then went to her drawers, pulling out an oversized t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Kaitlyn quickly swapped her borrowed clothes for her own. She held up the ends of her ginger hair noting the split ends. She was going to have to get a trim soon. Making a mental note to pop to the hairdressers, she twisted her hair into a messy bun, securing it with a scrunchie. Kaitlyn scooped up the file box from her desk and headed downstairs.

She stopped on the bottom step, file box falling out of her hands when she saw her boyfriend of two years Josh, Martin standing next to her dad. The noise of the box falling onto the floor caught both of their attention. Before Kaitlyn knew it, she and Josh were moving toward each other, hugging tightly. “I’m really glad you’re ok”, Josh mumbled, clinging onto his girlfriend. He’d been so worried about her when he had seen the news that she and Tony had been kidnapped in Afghanistan. So the moment he had seen the press conference on TV, he had hurried straight over.

“I’m gonna leave you two alone. But no funny business”, Tony said looking pointedly at the pair.

Kaitlyn shot him a ‘really?’ look. She knew what he was implying. Tony just ignored it, picked up the file box from where it had fallen and went downstairs to his workshop. As soon as he was out of eyeshot, Josh kissed Kaitlyn. “I love you Kait”, he said.

“I love you too Josh”, Kaitlyn countered. She moved back “you wanna sit outside?” she asked gesturing to the balcony where a few deckchairs were set out.

“Sure”, Josh said and the pair headed out to the balcony “so how are you doing?” he questioned sitting down on one of the deckchairs, tugging Kaitlyn onto his lap.

“Honestly? I don’t know”, Kaitlyn replied resting her head on his chest “all I know is that I want to put this behind me as quick as humanely possible”.

“And I’ll do whatever I can to help”, Josh promised. Kaitlyn looked up at him and smiled, touched by his promise.

“Thank you”, she said.

“How about you and me do something tomorrow? Like a walk on the beach?” Josh suggested.

Kaitlyn smiled again “I’d like that”, she said. The pair cuddled on the deckchair, Josh catching Kaitlyn up on whats been happening in the past three months, tactfully avoiding the subject of hers and Tony’s kidnapping. Eventually they said their goodbyes about a couple of hours later, leaving on a kiss and a promise of a beach walk tomorrow. Kaitlyn leaned against the now closed front door with a smile on her face. She stayed there for a minute before she pushed off from the door and made her way downstairs to her father’s workshop. There she and Tony delved into her file box, looking at her currently ongoing projects.

It felt rather surreal to Kaitlyn as she sat at Tony’s desk, listening to her father and jotting down notes on the construction of a safe water drinking system of all things. For so long she’d wanted her dad to do anything else besides from making weapons. And here they were discussing ideas on helping the charities that she was involved with. They’d even started brainstorming ways on how to best honour their fallen friend Yinsen so that he would never be forgotten.

\---------

When Pepper came down to check on them hours later, father and daughter were fast asleep on the sofa, notebooks, paper and pencils scattered over the floor. The older ginger couldn’t help but smile at how Kaitlyn’s head was on Tony’s shoulder and him with a protective arm around the teenager. It was nice to see as her boss wasn’t always the most affectionate when it came to Kaitlyn. Yes, he did have a soft, caring side that was only reserved for the teenager but it very rarely came out as he was far too busy with his company or his numerous flings. And it seemed that their time in captivity while horrible, actually brought them closer. So Pepper could at least be grateful that some good may have indeed come out of an awful situation.

She picked up a blanket that had been chucked to the side of the room and gently draped it over the slumbering pair. Neither one of them stirred as she did this, thankfully. “Jarvis dim the lights”, she requested when she reached the door. The AI did as she asked, dimming the lights. Pepper looked back over at the sofa “goodnight Tony, Kait”, she said quietly and left the room, closing the door behind her.


	12. Pool party

Kaitlyn skipped downstairs to her dad’s workshop to see him working away at the newest version of the mini arc reactor to replace the one he currently had in his chest. “That’s coming together nicely”, she commented.

“Thanks”, Tony said. He then noticed that she was wearing summery dress, prefect for the beach “Where are you off to?” he asked.

“I’m going for a walk on the beach with Josh”, Kaitlyn replied “I won’t be gone long. An hour or two tops”, she promised.

“Ok”, Tony said “be careful”.

“It’s just the beach near our house, I’ll be perfectly safe”, Kaitlyn assured him “if you want, you can stop by and walk me home or we could do something…some father-daughter thing”, she suggested “but much later though, since my friends are coming over!”

Tony smiled at her happy dance. While he was still very wary of mutants, he had to admit that they were good for her unlike those human friends of hers. Mostly because Kaitlyn could be herself. “Sounds good”, Tony said “I’ll see you in a couple of hours”. Kaitlyn nodded and then left the workshop.

“See you later Pepper!” the young ginger called as she crossed the floor to the front door.

“Have fun!” Pepper called from where she sat on the sofa, working away on her laptop. Kaitlyn pulled open the door to find her boyfriend standing on the other side along with their blonde haired friend, the occasional ditz, Camille Brooke and stereotypical jock, Ryan Fitzgerald.

“Hey, guys. What are you all doing here?” Kaitlyn asked wondering why her friends had turned up. The only friends she was expecting today were the ones from Xavier’s school, not her human friends.

“Well, I thought we’d change our plans. Stay here for a pool party”, Josh said “figured your dad wouldn’t mind, right?”

“Uh…” Kaitlyn started.

“Thanks babe”, Josh said giving her a kiss on the cheek before sidestepping around her to go into the house. Kaitlyn watched Camille and Ryan enter before she closed the door.

“So much for a peaceful walk on the beach”, Kaitlyn grumbled and then forced a smile on her face as she turned to face her friends “you guys know where the pool is. I’ll grab some towels and be out in a minute”, she told them.

“Cool”, Camille said.

“You da best Kait!” Ryan cheered pushing Camille toward the direction of the pool, Josh following after them.

“I see plans have changed then?” Pepper remarked as Kaitlyn came over, flopping onto the sofa, face down.

“Yep”, she mumbled into the cushion.

“If you don’t want them here, there are ways to get them removed”, Pepper reminded her “isn’t that right JARVIS?”

 ** _“Absolutely Miss Potts. Miss Stark, would you like me to initiate the House Party Breakup Protocol?”_** the AI offered.

Kaitlyn huffed and pushed herself up “I’m grateful for the offer JARVIS but I could do with the distraction”, she said “though if you could keep an eye on the pool area while they’re here, I’d appreciated it”.

**_“Of course. Shall I tell your father that they’re here?”_ **

Kaitlyn shook her head, standing up “No, I’ll let him know. Thank you JARVIS”, she said. So for the second time that day, she was heading back down to Tony’s workshop.

“You’re back quick”, Tony remarked.

“Never left”, Kaitlyn said “Josh decided to change the plans. Instead he brought Camille and Ryan here for a pool party”.

“Do you want them to be here?” Tony asked, noting that she looked less than pleased by it.

“Honestly? No, not particularly”, Kaitlyn admitted “but I think having them here would be a good thing. It’ll keep my mind off of…stuff”.

“Alright. As long as you’re sure”, Tony said.

“Yeah I’m sure”, Kaitlyn confirmed “and I’ve got JARVIS keeping an eye out”.

 ** _“She’s right, sir”_** , JARVIS spoke up.

“And don’t worry dad I’ll make sure they behave themselves”, Kaitlyn assured him, squeezing his shoulder before she left. She headed up to one of the bathrooms to grab some towels before going to the pool. The ginger set the towels down on the nearest deckchair and slowly approached the pool.

“Come Kait! Get in!” Camille urged from the shallower end of the pool. Josh was lazily floating on his back while Ryan stood next to Camille.

“Nah, I’m good thanks”, Kaitlyn assured her trying not to eye the water nervously. The water torture coming to the forefront of her mind despite her attempts to push it back. She knew that the experience…which was putting it very mildly…was going to leave scars: physical, emotional and psychological. But she wasn’t about to show her friends how much it affected her. She didn’t need their pity or their sympathy. She just needed them to treat her like they always had.

“Sorry Kait, that answer doesn’t work for me”, Ryan said pulling himself out of the water.

“Ryan! No!” Kaitlyn shrieked as he picked her up and tossed her into the water. As soon as she plunged into the chlorine saturated liquid, everything about being drowned came rushing to the surface. The ginger thrashed in the water, feeling many sets of hands on her shoulders forcing her down. Streams of bubbles emanated from her mouth as she cried out, flailing wildly around.

The rational part of her mind was telling her that nothing was holding her down, that she could swim to the surface. But none of that was even registering with her as the panic set in. Josh tried to grab her, to pull her to safety but she kept twisting out of his grip.

“Get her out!” Camille shouted at him when he surfaced yet again without her. Even Ryan was struggling. Suddenly Tony burst into the room Tony, not slowing down as they dove into the water. He wrapped his arm around the unconscious ginger and swam to the surface. He laid her down on the tiled floor and proceeded to give her mouth to mouth.

“Come on sweetheart, breathe”, Tony pleaded as he continued to give his daughter CPR. Less than a minute later, Kaitlyn woke, coughing up water.

“Daddy”, she whispered before she burst into tears. Tony hugged the teenager, rubbing her back as she began to ramble while she cried “I…c-couldn’t break free…wasn’t strong enough…those hands all around…”

“It’s ok. Its ok Kait. You’re safe”, Tony said in a calm soothing tone “they can’t hurt you anymore” he looked up at the three teenagers as he rubbed his daughter’s back “You three get dried and dressed”, Tony ordered “then we’re gonna have a little talk”. He gathered up Kaitlyn and carried her out of the room.

“Oh my god! What happened?” Pepper asked practically jumping off sofa when she saw a soaking wet Tony carrying and equally wet Kaitlyn.

“She had a little accident”, Tony replied “Would you mind coming upstairs with us?”

“Of course”, Pepper said. She followed Tony up to Kaitlyn’s room where she grabbed the teenager a towel and some clean clothes.

“I’m gonna go talk to your friends”, Tony told Kaitlyn as Pepper dried her off “be back in a minute”.

“Go easy on them”, Kaitlyn said quietly “they didn’t know it would affect me”.

“No promises”, Tony said and then left the room.

\------------

“Mr Stark, I’m sorry”, Ryan said quickly when Tony walked down the stairs “I didn’t know she’d freak out like that. It was just a bit of fun”.

“Well, your ‘fun’ almost made my daughter drown”, Tony said, angrily “and you…” he turned to Josh “you should’ve stuck to your original plans. Now I want all three of you to leave, right now”.

Camille and Ryan headed toward the front door while Josh hung back. “Mr Stark I…” he began.

“Josh, leave”, Tony cut in “and I suggest you don’t come back for a few days. Kait needs time to heal”. The dark haired teen nodded. As much as he wanted to stay to comfort his girlfriend, he knew that Tony was right. Kaitlyn needed time to heal. He just hoped that whatever she went through, she’d be able to open up to him about it…eventually.

“Could you tell her that I’m sorry and that I said goodbye?” Josh said and Tony nodded. The teenager turned and left with his friends. 

\--------------

“I can’t believe they did that to you!” Faye exclaimed “stupid humans”. When she and the other mutants arrived at the mansion, they learned what Kaitlyn’s other friends had done.

“They’re not stupid”, Kaitlyn defended “Ryan just wanted me to join in with the fun”.

“Fun that almost got you killed”, Logan growled from the doorway, making the teenagers look over at him.

“And that’s our cue to leave”, the twins chorused. Willa, Dawn, Morgan, Kai and Faye got up from where they’d been sitting and left the room. 

“Logan, it was an accident”, Kaitlyn told him “they didn’t know I was going to be triggered by the pool. _I_ didn’t know it was going to happen”.

“I think you did know. That’s why you said ‘no”, Logan shot back.

Kaitlyn sighed “ok, fine. I didn’t know I was going to have a panic attack like that but after what I’d been through…I wasn’t keen on getting into the water anytime soon”, she admitted.

“But your so called friend _s_ didn’t respect your wishes. Ryan just threw you in anyway”, Logan continued “and your _boyfriend_ didn’t do anything to stop him”.

“Well, whats done is done. My boyfriend…my friends are sorry. And…” Kaitlyn started.

"Sorry! They disregarded your choice and almost cost you your life!" Logan cut her off, his voice coming out in a deep growl as he remembered the same thing happening to Diana. How her boyfriend disregard for wellbeing had her stabbed because he wanted to have a few drinks with friends.

Kaitlyn startled at his tone, her eyes going wide and Logan immediately realised his mistake when she took a step away from him. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he turned away from her, trying to get his emotions under control. “Kait, I’m sorry”, Logan said, quietly having managed to calm down “I just don’t like you getting hurt”.

“I know”, Kaitlyn said, softly “I am tougher than I look, remember? I’ll bounce back. Its just going to take more time than normal” seeing that he was calm but still quite a bit upset, she suggested “how about we go for a walk?”

“Sure”, Logan agreed. A walk with his Mate was probably what he needed right now.


	13. Tour of spontaneity

The next day saw, Kaitlyn sitting on her bed, pillow clutched to her stomach, eyes trained on the person sitting on her desk chair. “Do you know why I’m here, Kaitlyn?” the black man asked.

“Yes”, Kaitlyn replied “you’re here because I had an…incident yesterday in the pool”.

“That’s right”, the man, Dr Andrew Garner, confirmed “now you don’t have to tell me absolutely everything. Just whatever you feel comfortable with”.

“I thought psychologists were supposed to want to know every little detail. And give some answer filled with psychobabble that’ll just make me even more confused”, Kaitlyn said earning her a small laugh from Andrew.

“Usually that’s what we do but in your case, I don’t think it’s a good idea”, Andrew said “So tell me what happened”.

“My boyfriend, Josh and two of our friends Camille and Ryan came over yesterday. I wasn’t expecting them because Josh and I had planned to take a walk on the beach”, Kaitlyn explained.

“Your father mentioned that you weren’t too happy about the change in plans”, Andrew said.

“Kind of an understatement. And instead of making them leave, I decided it was better if they stayed. It would help keep my mind off of things”, Kaitlyn said “so we had a sort of pool party. They wanted me to get in but I couldn’t. Ryan thought it would be funny to throw me in. The second I hit the water everything came rushing back…” Kaitlyn’s breath hitched and she held the pillow tighter “how those people held me under…how I tried to break free as I struggled for breath…” a tear rolled down her cheek “I felt so helpless and I hated it! I’m half angel for god’s sake! I should’ve been able to throw them off, easily but I couldn’t because Yinsen had drugged me!”

Kaitlyn angrily threw her pillow across the room. “I’m sorry Dr Garner. I shouldn’t have done that”, the ginger said, quickly apologising.

“That’s quite alright Kaitlyn”, Andrew said gently “I’ve had plenty of patients do something similar. Though they hardly ever apologised”.

“It’s just…not like me to just lash out like that”, Kaitlyn admitted.

“It an understandable reaction. For someone so strong, it’s rare for you to feel helpless…vulnerable. So when it happens, it’s quite a bit of a shock and you’ll need time to bounce back”, Andrew told her.

“And how long will it take for me to ‘bounce back’?” the teen questioned.

“I’m afraid I can’t give you an exact time period. It could be weeks or even months”, Andrew replied “and having setbacks like the incident at the pool will make it take even longer”.

“How do I avoid having set-backs?” Kaitlyn asked, ready to do anything if it meant she would be able to recover sooner.

“It won’t be easy. The pool is just one thing that triggered an incident. There could be many more that may possibly affect you. So I would recommend you keep a record of when and where these happen”, Andrew suggested.

“What, like a diary or something?” Kaitlyn asked.

“A diary is one way you could do it, yes”, Andrew agreed “I also believe that just this one talk isn’t going to be enough to help you. Therefore I am going to schedule you in for weekly sessions”. 

Outside Kaitlyn’s door, Tony had his ear pressed against the wood trying to listen to the conversation going on inside. JARVIS refused to let him eavesdrop on the meeting so he resorted to the old fashioned way. “What do you think you’re doing?” Pepper hissed at him, pulling him away from the door “you shouldn’t be eavesdropping on them”.

“But…” Tony started.

“No buts”, Pepper interrupted “What is said between Dr Garner and Kait, stays between them. So don’t try to get anything out of your daughter. She’ll tell you if or when she’s ready, is that understood?”

Tony nodded, a little afraid of the protective tone in her voice. Admittedly it was one of the reasons that he kept Pepper on as his assistant for so long. She was so good with Kaitlyn, taking on the role of protective mother without any hesitation. “So come on, let’s leave them to it”, Pepper said taking his arm and leading him away “perhaps you can go finish that new chest piece of yours. Just don’t ask me to help you install it because I won’t do it”.

\-----------------

A few hours later, Kaitlyn headed down to the workshop to see how her dad was doing with the new chest piece. What she found was him sitting in a chair much like you’d have at the Doctor’s office, several wires stuck to him which were attached to machines to monitor your vitals.

“Good timing Kait! I was about to ask you for help”, Tony said.

“Help with…what?” Kaitlyn asked cautiously approaching him.

“I was trying to install this” Tony held up his new chest piece “but there’s a copper wire I need to shift first…and my uh hands are too big”.

“You want me to reach into your chest and pull out a wire?” Kaitlyn questioned making sure she hadn’t misheard him.

“Yeah”, Tony replied.

“And Pepper wasn’t available to help you out with this?” Kaitlyn queried.

“Well, she basically told me she wasn’t going to help which leaves my very smart and beautiful daughter”, Tony said.

“You don’t have to butter me up dad, I’ll do it”, Kaitlyn said. She took a breath and moved her hand to the circular opening in his chest.

“Don’t let it touch the metal”, Tony warned.

“I won’t”, Kaitlyn promised. She cringed when she reached inside, her fingers came into contact with something rather gross. She pushed aside the feeling of wanting to puke and continued on until she felt the wire.

“You got it?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, I got it”, Kaitlyn confirmed. She lightly gripped it and then slowly proceeded to extract it. “Ok, now what?” she asked.

“Now, cut it”, Tony answered “there’s some pl-“ he broke off when he saw Kaitlyn holding the wire, the tip glowing a little bit, indicating that she’d just used her power to break the wire “or you could do that”.

“I’m guessing we put this thing in now”, Kaitlyn stated plucking the new chest piece from him.

“Yes that’s now going to go in. Attach it to the base plate and I’ll do the rest”, Tony said.

Kaitlyn nodded “ok” she reached in and connected the new chest piece to the baseplate as Tony had instructed. Once she’d done that, Tony took over and secured it into the metal housing that was planted in his chest.

“Ugh I’m gonna have to wash my hands at least 20 times”, Kaitlyn said wrinkling her nose at the smell of the gunk on her fingers as she frantically wiped them onto a towel that was on the table next to Tony’s old chest piece. “What do you want to do with this?” she asked, nodding to it.

“Destroy it”, Tony replied pulling the wires off of himself and getting up from the chair.

“You don’t want to keep it?” Kaitlyn questioned “Circumstances aside, this is your first mini arc reactor. That’s ground breaking stuff”.

“No, I don’t”, Tony answered.

“Alright then. Just thought I’d ask”, Kaitlyn said, dropping the towel onto the table and picked up the old chest piece. She started to head back to the door of the work shop when Tony spoke up.

“How did the session go with Dr Garner go?”

Kaitlyn turned back “It went well. He’s a really cool guy. He doesn’t make you talk about anything you’re not ready for. And I’ve scheduled another session with him next week”, the ginger explained.

“That’s good”, Tony said “say…are you busy for the next few hours?”

“Uh, no I’m not”, Kaitlyn answered “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I thought that we could do something together. A father-daughter thing”, Tony suggested.

“What did you have in mind?” the teenager questioned setting the chest piece down.

“I haven’t got a particular thing in mind. Just figured we take a drive and see what takes our fancy”, Tony said.

“Something spontaneous”, Kaitlyn stated “sounds good to me. We gonna go now?”

“Yep”, Tony replied popping the p. He walked over to his long line of cars “So which will it be?”

Kaitlyn joined him and studied the vehicles “the red Ferrari”, she replied.

“The red Ferrari it is”

The pair hopped into the car and Tony started it up. They drove off, up the ramp to reach the street above.

\------------

“Oh! Another strike for me!” Kaitlyn cheered, doing a little dance on the spot. Tony chuckled at her antics. It was nice to see her laughing and having a good time, especially after their ordeal. He watched her bowl two more times, whooping in victory as she won.

“Congrats Kait”, he said standing up.

“Thanks. But I have the feeling you didn’t try very hard”, Kaitlyn said, turning to him.

“I played to the best of my ability”, Tony said, defending himself.

Kaitlyn laughed “Yeah, ok dad”, she said, patting him on the shoulder, not believing him “so where’s our next stop on this tour of spontaneity?”

“I don’t know about you but I’m starving”, Tony replied.

“Food it is”, Kaitlyn agreed. This decision brought them to the nearest restaurant where they spent a good couple of hours laughing and joking over a large pizza. “You know, I think that waitress is checking you out”, the ginger said to her father quietly, nodding to the blonde who was trying but failing to look at them discretely.

“Is she?” Tony asked, not even bothering to look around.

“Yep”, Kaitlyn confirmed “wanna get her number?”

“Nope”, Tony said, surprising his daughter “there’s only one young lady I want to pay attention right now and she’s sitting across from me”. Kaitlyn who was taking a sip of her drink at the time, smiled around her straw.

After the bill was paid, Tony leaving a generous tip as well, the pair left the restaurant. As they walked to the car, Kaitlyn jumped onto her father’s back. He stumbled a little before managing to regain his balance and carrying her piggyback style toward the red Ferrari, neither of them paying any attention to the numerous photographs that were being taken.

\--------------

“I had a lot of fun today”, Kaitlyn said as Tony drove the car down the ramp and parked it next to the others.

“Me too”, Tony agreed. Admittedly it had been a while since they’d done anything together so this was pretty enjoyable.

“We should do something spontaneous more often”, the ginger said.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that”, Tony remarked. Kaitlyn hopped out of the Ferrari and headed toward the door of the workshop, picking up Tony’s old chest piece on the way. She had an idea of what to do with it. Yes, her dad said he didn’t want to keep it but she couldn’t throw it away. She took it up to her room, powered up her laptop and started her search for the perfect container for it.

It took about a couple of hours before she found the right display case which included a holder that you can engrave a message onto it. Kaitlyn’s fingers poised over the keyboard as she deliberated what to write. She smiled when she thought up of the perfect thing. Kaitlyn typed in the message and hit the ‘buy’ icon. She sat back, happy that she’d gotten the perfect thing for his chest piece to go into.


End file.
